JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Stockton University collected 34 hits in two games and powered past the New Jersey City University softball team, 17-4 and 10-1 — both in five innings — in a New Jersey Athletic Conference softball doubleheader on May 1 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
Stockton improved to 8-16 overall and 8-10 in the NJAC and finished in a tie with Rutgers-Camden for sixth place in the NJAC standings. In a season where all 10 schools in the league will qualify for the conference tournament, the Ospreys edge Camden on a tie-breaker for the No. 6 seed and a bye into the league quarterfinals. 
 
NJCU (0-18, 0-18 NJAC) will be the No. 10 seed and will face the seventh-seeded Scarlet Raptors in a single-elimination NJAC Tournament first round game on Tuesday, May 4. It will be NJCU's first appearance in the NJAC Tournament since the 2000 season.
 
Prior to Saturday's twinbill, the Gothic Knights honored their lone 2021 senior, third baseman Dulce Almonte (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder via County Prep). The Knights also paid tribute to their 2020 senior, catcher Arianna Scrimo (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), whose senior campaign was cut short last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
GAME 1: Stockton 17, NJCU 4 (5 innings)
NJCU scored its most runs in a game this season but the Ospreys notched multiple runs in each of the first four innings, including seven runs in the fourth, and outhit NJCU, 22-4.
 
Stockton led 4-0 after the first inning and added two in the second and four in the third. NJCU rallied with three runs in the bottom of the third to chase the Stockton starting pitcher and trim the deficit to 10-4, before the Ospreys cemented their victory with the seven-run fourth.
 
Sophomore second baseman Hailey Mojica had a two-RBI double in the third inning to account for NJCU's biggest hit and walked once. Junior first baseman Emma Herrick and freshman catcher Mariah Villanueva were each hit by pitch twice.
 
Six different players had multiple hits for Stockton. Freshman designated player Jenna Patterson was Stockton's top performer, chalking up a pair of two-run home runs, in the second and fourth innings. Junior shortstop Lilly James also had four RBIs, batting 3-for-4 (two runs) and senior left fielder Meg Murzello was 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs and a triple. Stockton had six extra-base hits in their victory.
 
GAME 2: Stockton 10, NJCU 1 (5 innings)
In the nightcap, NJCU led 1-0 after an RBI single by Herrick in the bottom of the first before the Ospreys struck for two in the visitors' second. Leading 2-1, Stockton added two more runs in the fourth, then enforced the eight-run rule for the second time on the day when it registered six unearned runs in the top of the fifth after a leadoff error. The Ospreys outhit NJCU, 12-3.
 
Almonte was NJCU's leader in her final career home game, batting 2-for-3 with one run, adding a highlight-reel defensive catch on a line drive down the third base line. Almonte could return in 2022 if she chooses to use the extra year of eligibility permitted after the pandemic cut the 2020 season short.
 
James led Stockton with three RBIs, batting 2-for-4 with two runs. In two games, she was the top all-around performer with seven RBIs and four runs, batting 5-for-8. Murzello was 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI and senior right fielder Angie Dunphy, after a 3-for-4 performance in game one, again batted 3-for-4 in the nightcap. Those top three players in the order accounted for seven hits and five runs.
 
Freshman Stevie Unger struck out six in 4.0 innings and allowed one run on two hits to earn the win.
 
UP NEXT:
NJCU will travel to Camden, N.J. to face Rutgers-Camden in the NJAC Tournament on May 4. The time for that game will be announced in the coming days. Camden won both meetings on April 3 at Branch Brook Park in Newark, N.J., 14-2 and 14-1.
 
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