CAMDEN, N.J. — The New Jersey City University softball team opened up New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play for the 2023 season today, Satuday, April 1. The Gothic Knights played well against Rutgers-Camden on the road, but fell to the Scarlet Raptors in both games.
Game 1: Rutgers-Camden 6, NJCU 2
NJCU (8-8, 0-2 NJAC) started off strong early and held a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the fifth inning. The Gothic Knights starting pitcher junior
Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) had allowed just one hit and two base runners, along with four strikeouts through 4.0 innings in the circle. Jersey City got the coring started in the top of the third as junior shortstop
Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oak Crest) led off the game with a ground-rule double to right. She then stole third before junior second base
Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) plated her with a groundout to make it 1-0. The top of the third inning saw NJCU try and get a rally going, as well. Rookie leftfielder
Natalie Rosales (Union City, N.J./Jose Marti STEM Academy) led off with a walk, followed by a single to right by freshman rightfielder
Yavely Marrero (Perth Amboy, N.J./Perth Amboy). Tunney then drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Unfortunately, a line-out double play followed by a fly-out ended the inning.
However, the Gothic Knights went up 2-0 in the top of the fifth. Sophomore first base
Jaelynn Barrios (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) led off with an error and advanced to second. She was sacrificed over by Rosales before Marrero hit a single to the gap in left to plate Barrios. NJCU did manage to load the bases later in the inning with just one out, but was unable to do further damage. The bottom of the fifth was when the Scarlet Raptors (5-13, 2-0 NJAC) got to Dabbadie, playing four runs on five hits to take a 4-2 advantage. Jersey City tried to get something going the next half inning and had a runner at first with one out, however another line-out double play ended those hopes. Rutgers-Camden got two more runs in the next frame to take a 6-2 lead after 6.0 innings.
Game 2: Rutgers-Camden 10, NJCU 2 (5 innings)
The Green and Gold started out fast once again in this one. Tunney again led off the game, this time with an infield single before Villanueva sacrificed her over to second. Sophomore catcher
Abby Castro (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech) singled to center for her first RBI of the day to make it 1-0. NJCU had two runners on with two outs but it would end there. The Scarlet Raptors then put up two runs in the bottom half on four hits to take a 2-1 lead. Jersey City had another two-out, runners on second and third opportunity in the top of the second, but came up empty. Junior pitcher
Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) settled down in the bottom of the second, going 1-2-3 with groundouts, and her squad took another shot in the top of the third. Once again, Jersey City had second and third with two outs, but were unable to push a run across to tie it.
Rutgers-Camden then made it a 4-1 game in the bottom of the third with a couple of runs on three hits, however the Gothic Knights trimmed it back to 4-2 in the top of the fourth. With one out, it was Marrero this time that had a ground-rule double to left. Then, with two outs, Villanueva walked and Castro singled to load up the bases before sophomore third base
Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) forced in a run with a walk. The bottom hald saw the Scarlet Raptors get into a second and third situation with no outs, so Tunney came in to pitch for just the second time this season. She worked around an error and a walk to get out of the jam without allowing a run to score. Unfortunately, Rutgers-Camden had a one-out rally in the bottom of the fifth, scoring six runs on four hits and an error to end the game there at 10-2.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights look to bounce back at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon, April 4, with another NJAC doubleheader beginning with game one at 3:00 p.m. against Rutgers-Newark.
