NAPLES, Fla. – The New Jersey City University softball team played a pair of games at the Lee County Sports Complex today, Thursday, March 10, on the squad's fourth day of competition at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on the Southwest coast of Florida.
 
Game 1: Albion 8, NJCU 0 (5 innings)
Albion College (4-3) limited Jersey City (0-8) to a pair of base hits in the morning have of NJCU's doubleheader. Both knocks came in the top of the eight as the Gothic Knights looked to start a rally. With one out, freshman Abby Castro (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech) reached on an infield single to the pitcher. Then, in the next at-bat, sophomore Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oak Crest) sent one to right to put runners on first and second. Unfortunately, the next two batters were sent down and the Britons came away with the win.
 
Game 2: Drew 12, NJCU 2 (5 innings)
Tunney took to the circle for the Green and Gold in game two and tossed the full 5.0 innings. She only allowed two earned runs in the loss, recording a pair of strikeouts against Drew University (9-1). The Rangers went up 10-0 after three innings, but the Gothic Knights did a little bit of damage in the home half of the fourth.
 
With one out, sophomore Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) came in to pinch hit for NJCU and promptly singled to left-center to load the bases, joining freshman Abby Castro (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech) and senior Emma Herrick (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) on the pads. Then, senior Katherine Ayala (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) sent a two-run single down the line in left to make it 10-2. Ayala has been on a tear the last three games and is a combined 4-for-6 over that stretch.
 
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights embark on their final day of the Classic tomorrow, Friday, March 11, for two more games, this time at the North Collier Sports Complex. They first go head-to-head with Immaculata University at 11:00 a.m., followed by a scheduled-1:00 p.m. class with the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford to close out their week in Florida.