NAPLES, Fla. – The New Jersey City University softball squad played in a pair of games today, Wednesday, March 9, on the team's third day of competition at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on the Southwest coast of the Sunshine State.
 
Game 1 – Elms 4, NJCU 2
Jersey City (0-6) got a very strong pitching performance from sophomore hurler Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) against Elms College (4-3). The right-hander tossed all 7.0 innings in the loss, allowing just two earned runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out a career-best five batters. No runs were scored in innings two through six, as the Blazers did all their damage in the top of the first, while the Gothic Knights mustered their offensive outburst in the bottom of the seventh.
 
A double-steal attempt resulted in the game's first run following an off throw to get the runner at third. Later, Elms knocked in a two-run double and then, with two outs, a one-run double made it 4-0. From that point on, however, Miller did not allow a single hit.
 
NJCU did have a few good looks to get back into the game before their seventh inning rally, however. Starting in the bottom of the second, the squad loaded the bases with one out via a single from senior Emma Herrick (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial), a double from rookie Abby Castro (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech) and a walk from senior Katherine Ayala (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter). Unfortunately, a pair of strikeouts ended that rally.
 
Another offensive opportunity presented itself for the Gothic Knights in the bottom of the fourth as, with two outs, Ayala knocked a single to right-center, advancing sophomore Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) to second – she led off with a walk. A wild pitch moved the runners over, but another strikeout ended that rally, as well. Ayala again almost came in clutch with a two-out double in the bottom of the sixth to put runners on second and third, but that opportunity was also halted by a strikeout.
 
Then came the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oak Crest) got things started with a one-out single down the line in left. In the next at-bat, senior Alissa Bikowski (South Amboy, N.J./South Amboy) also singled down the line. Then, an error on the play by the Elms' third baseman advanced her to second and moved Tunney to third. Miller, who had gotten the job done in the pitching circle, came in clutch with the bat, knocking in Tunney with a run-scoring double. Villanueva followed with a RBI single of her own to score Bikowski and leave runners on the corners for a pair of strong hitters. Unfortunately, Herrick and Castro were unable to capitalize, and the Blazers came away with the win.
 
Game 2 – Rockford 10, NJCU 1 (5 innings)
Rockford (4-0) got things started early with a two-run top of the first, however the Gothic Knights managed to get one back in the home half of the inning. Bikowski led of with a single through the right side. Two at-bats later, Miller reached on an error at second. Then, with two outs a couple batters later, Herrick knocked in Bikowski with a one-run single to make it 2-1. The Regents went on to score eight more runs before the game ended after five innings in their favor.
 
Up Next:
Jersey City returns to action tomorrow, Thursday, March 10, for another two games on its penultimate day of competition at the Classic. The Gothic Knights first face off with Albion College at 9:00 a.m. and then follow up at 11:00 a.m. with another chance to face Drew University. Both games will be back at the Lee County Sports Complex.