JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The New Jersey City University softball team continued action Saturday afternoon, April 22, as the Gothic Knights hosted Ramapo College at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play. The Gothic Knights fell to Ramapo 12-1 in five innings in the first game and 8-0 in six innings game two.
GAME ONE:
Jersey City (13-19, 2-12 NJAC) saw a deficit early, as the Roadrunner's (28-7-1, 12-1-1 NJAC) offense was loud to start off, boasting an early 6-0 lead. Junior Pitcher Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) got the start in the circle, and despite trouble locating at the start of the inning, she began settling in nicely late as she struck out two batters in the first despite allowing the deficit.
The story main impactor of the day turned out to be the lack of offense from NJCU, keeping up with Ramapo's explosive offense, as the Gothic Knights managed only four hits total in the first game. Three of those hits came in the bottom of the second, when sophomore first baseman Jaelynn Barrios (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) got NJCU's first hit with a single roped into left field. Four pitches later, junior pitcher Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) drilled a double off the fence in right center putting both herself and Barrios into scoring position. Then two batters later, the final hit of the inning and the lone NJCU run in the game was produced by freshman outfielder Natalie Rosales (Union City, N.J./Jose Marti STEM Academy), as she hit an RBI single to left scoring Barrios making the score 6-1.
After the tough start Dabbadie pitched a scoreless second and third frame retiring six of the eight batters faced along the way only allowing one hit, and the other batter reaching virtue of an error. Where things began to turn back into Ramapo's favor was in the fourth inning, as a fielding error derailed NJCU's momentum as it led to three more Roadrunners crossing the plate making the score 9-1.
NJCU's fourth and final hit of the game came in the bottom half of the fourth inning, as Barrios ripped a double off the left center field fence, marking her second hit of the game, as well as the Green and Gold's second extra base hit. Unfortunately, despite Miller reaching on a fielding error after putting runners on the corners with one out, nobody was able to drive home Barrios putting NJCU in a must score situation heading into the bottom of the fifth.
Bad luck only struck further in the top of the fifth as Ramapo had two soft hits in the early inning, leading to an eventual home run that broke things up further putting the Gothic Knights down eleven. Ramapo then shut things down striking out two batters in the bottom of the fifth, sealing a 12-1 victory in the first game.
Highlights:
- With her two hits, Barrios now has seven multi hit games on the season, and is batting well above the .300 mark, with a .346 batting average.
- Despite defeat, Dabbadie tallied a remarkable 131 pitches thrown over her five innings of work, which is her second most this season, and the third highest total in an outing of her career.
- Despite a tough start to the season average wise, Miller was on point in the first game as in both of her at bats, as both of her balls put in play were hit with authority, despite one resulting in her reaching on an error and the other resulting in the double setting up the lone NJCU run.
GAME TWO:
The second game saw Miller get the start in the circle, as she struggled finding her command against the first few batters before settling in. This brief period along with a crucial error in the field allowed Ramapo to take an early 2-0 lead.
The key point of game two was focused around hits, as both in the first and the second inning, both junior infielder Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oak Crest) and sophomore catcher Abby Castro (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech) walked, but was unable to progress further due to the bat being silent. Also, as it turned out, that became the last time NJCU saw a runner on base in the game virtue of a productive offensive result, as Ramapo's pitching was flawless.
The Roadrunners over the stretch of the next five innings added six more runs including three in the third. NJCU did have opportunities to get hits though, but unfortunately in three instances it did not work out. Miller in her first at bat drilled a ball seemingly into the gap, but it was denied by the Ramapo defense. Later in the fifth, freshman pitcher Yavely Marrero (Perth Amboy, N.J./Perth Amboy) seemingly had an infield single off of a shallow pop up. However, a diving effort at third base resulted in a denial of a hit keeping the no hitter alive. Ramapo threatened the mercy rule in the sixth as NJCU had its last unfortunate scenario, this time a game ender. With Rosales on first reaching virtue of a fielding error, Tunney drilled a hard line drive seemingly on its way to right center field, but the second baseman made a leap catch, doubling up Rosales to end the game, sealing the no hitter for the Roadrunners. Ramapo won 8-0 in six innings.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action Tuesday, April 25, as NJCU takes on Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., with game two of the double header to follow after. With only three double headers left in the season, NJCU is looking to close out the season strong and end a long dry spell against Red Hawks stretching twenty five games, as the last time the Gothic Knights beat Montclair was April 26, 2009 in Jersey City.
