JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The New Jersey City University softball team hosted William Paterson University for a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) games at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex today, Tuesday, April 12. Game one was a battle all the way through, needing nine innings to decide a winner, as the Pioneers took it 3-2. Game two made it to the top of the seventh inning, but was officially called due to darkness, with William Paterson winning 5-0.
Game 1: William Paterson 3, NJCU 2 (9 innings)
This one was a pitchers' dual all the way through as the Pioneers (12-11, 3-5 NJAC) hurlers combined to throw 9.0 four-hit innings with no earned runs and eight strikeouts, while NJCU (9-16, 1-7 NJAC) sophomore right-hander
Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) went the distance herself, allowing just one earned and striking out six batters.
William Paterson got on the board first, as the visitors walked in a bases-loaded run in the top of the first with two outs to go ahead 1-0. For a long while – until the bottom of the seventh in fact – that was the only offense of the game. A massive opportunity to take control of the game, however, came along for the Gothic Knights in the bottom of the fourth.
With two outs, freshman
Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) reached on a walk, and senior
Katherine Ayala (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) followed suit. Eventually, sophomore
Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) would load the bases with a walk of her own. At that point, the Pioneers swapped out their pitchers, but that did not stop sophomore
Skylah Cartwright (Willingboro, N.J./Burlington County Tech). The left fielder worked the count a bit and then managed to get a hold of one and power a laser that looked to at least tie it – if not put NJCU up by one, or even two runs at the time – however a web-gem worthy snag by the William Paterson second baseman – not her only one of the day – ended the rally and the inning.
Then, needing at least a run to keep things going, a desperate Jersey City squad forced the Pioneers to make a couple mistakes. With two outs, the speedy senior
Alissa Bikowski (South Amboy, N.J./South Amboy) hit a soft grounder to short. She was on her horse looking to leg out the grounder and to her luck, the throw to first was off target and she was safe on the error and advanced to second on the play. In the next at-bat, senior captain
Emma Herrick (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) grounded one right at the first baseman, but it was mishandled once again, allowing her to reach safely and Bikowski to score from second to tie it and push the game into extras.
With the Olympic tiebreaker rules in effect – every extra half inning sees a runner start on second base – both teams scored a single run to make it 2-2 after eight. For NJCU, it came via another costly William Paterson error. Mya V. forced another errant throw by the WPU shortstop, which allowed Dabbadie to score from third. Unfortunately, the Green and Gold were unable to answer the third run of the game from the top of the ninth by William Paterson and fell in the lengthy first leg of today's doubleheader.
Game 2: William Paterson 5, NJCU 2 (6+ innings)
This one was a tough one for a Gothic Knight team that expended all its energy and emotion in the long game one. Unfortunately, NJCU was able to muster just three hits in this game and was charged with three errors, as well. Sophomore
Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) got the nod in the circle and turned in a strong performance, tossing 5.0 innings and allowed three earned before sophomore
Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oak Crest) came in to finish up the day with 1.0+ innings in the circle.
As with game one, the Pioneers scored in the top of the first, and then both offenses fell quiet for a couple of innings. William Paterson put up three runs – two unearned – in the top of the fourth to make it 4-0, before scratching across one more in the top of the fifth.
Highlights:
- Dabbadie finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
- Cartwright was 2-for-5 with a double and a sacrifice bunt.
- Herrick went 2-for-7 with a double, as well.
Up Next:
Jersey City heads down to Galloway, N.J., for a pair of NJAC games against Stockton University on Saturday, April 16. First pitch in game one between the Gothic Knights and Ospreys is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
