NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — After a day's delay due to unplayable conditions, the New Jersey City University softball team finally kicked off its 2024 season on Sunday, March 3, with a pair of games as part of the FastPitch Dreams Spring Classic. NJCU started off in the early afternoon, defeating Albion College, 6-4, and followed that up with a high-scoring affair against Wilson College. Unfortunately, the Green and Gold suffered the walk-off, 12-11 loss to the Phoenix in the evening.

Game 1: NJCU 6, Albion 4
The Gothic Knights (1-1) started off the day with a nice top of the first against the Brits (1-3), manufacturing a pair of runs to take the early 2-0 lead. Junior leftfielder Genesis Suarez (Ozone Park, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) led off by getting plunked before senior centerfielder Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) moved her over with a sacrifice. Junior second base Jordan Mendolla (Jersey City, N.J./Hudson Catholic) followed with her first hit as a Gothic Knight, a single to left, and made it over to second with an error at third, putting two in scoring position. One at-bat later, a wild pitch allowed Suarez and Mendolla both to score. Albion fired back in the home half, putting up a four-spot on senior pitcher Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs). However, that would be the extent of the Brits' offense for the day as Dabbadie finished with the victory, her first of the season, going the full 7.0 innigns with five strikeouts.

NJCU made it a one-run game in the top of the second. Junior shortstop Cheyenn Fulton (Jersey City, N.J./Hudson Catholic) reached first with a one-out walk and then stole second. Senior rightfielder Skylah Cartwright (Willingboro, N.J./Burlington County Tech) followed by getting plunked to put two runners on. Senior catcher Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) then came through with a one-run double to left to make it 4-3. Dabbadie was dealing for the remainder, allowing four more hits from the second inning on — all the Gothic Knights needed were two runs to take the lead. NJCU nearly did that in the top of the third, loading the bases with one out, but was unable to score.

However, the Green and Gold broke through in the fourth to take the lead for good. Villanueva led off with a hit-by-pitch and then stole second. Suarez then dropped one down to move Villanueva to third. Tunney followed with a walk and stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Mendolla came next by reaching on an errant throw at third to tie it up at 4-4. Junior third base Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) put NJCU ahead, 5-4, with a one-run single to the gap in right. Finally, junior first base Jaelynn Barrios (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) got the insurance run with a RBI groundout to the pitcher, making it 6-4.

Game 2: Wilson 12, NJCU 11
This one was wild as the two teams traded the lead back and forth six times when it was all said and done. Suarez, starting at catcher in this one, kicked it off with a leadoff single to center. Mendolla then put two on later with a one-out single before Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) gave NJCU the 1-0 lead with a one-run single up the middle to plate Suarez. Junior leftfielder Paola Calderon (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Adams) later drew a two-out walk to load the bases before a passed ball allowed Mendolla to score from third, making it 2-0. Wilson (4-0) got just one run back in the bottom of the first despite a trio of Gothic Knight errors before tying it up in the bottom of the second.

The game stayed at 2-2 until the bottom of the fourth as two hits and one walk, combined with two NJCU errors, allowed Wilson to take a 6-2 lead. The Green and Gold did not lay down and roared back in the top of the fifth. Mendolla started it with a one-out single up the middle, followed by a single from Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) to put runners on the corners. A run-scoring groundout from Barrios followed, making it 6-3. The next at-bat featured Calderon, who knocked in a run with a single up the middle, making it 6-4. After she stole second, Calderon scored to make it 6-5 thanks to a RBI single to center from Fulton to make it 6-5. The Phoenix scratched one more across in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-5 — one of their two earned runs on the evening.

NJCU answered once again, though, taking its first lead since the second inning with a three-run top of the sixth. Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic), the designated player in this one, led off with an infield single — the ball went straight up into the air off her bat, but no one between the Wilson pitcher, catcher and third base caught it or even touched it. Later on, with two outs and runners on second and third, Barrios knocked in two runs with a game-tying single to center, making it 7-7. Then, a double steal from Barrios and Mendolla allowed the latter to cross home plate and make it 8-7. Not to be outdone, Wilson followed with three runs in the home half to take the 10-8 lead on one hit and two NJCU errors.

The Gothic Knights answered the bell AGAIN in the top of the seventh, plating three more runs to take an 11-10 lead. A couple of walks from Fulton and rookie rightfielder Alonah Olden (Lake George, N.Y./Lake George) started it off before Suarez reached on an errant throw from short to load the bases with one out. Tunney came through next with a big-time two-run double past the shortstop to tie it up at 10-10. Mendolla then plated the go-ahead run with a RBI groundout to give her squad the one-run lead. NJCU did get runners on second and third with two outs, but was unable to tack on any insurance. Wilson capitalized on that with a hit and a couple more NJCU errors to score two in the bottom of the seventh and walk it off.

Highlights:
- Senior pitcher Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) got the start in the circle in game two, going all 6.1 innings, allowing just two earned on six hits with four strikeouts.
- Mendolla finished 4-for-8 with a whopping five runs, two stolen bases, a walk and two RBI in her Gothic Knight debut.
- Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) was also 4-for-8, knocking in two runs and scoring one herself. She also stole a base and walked once.
- Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) finished 2-for-5 with a run, a double, a RBI, a walk and a hit-by-pitch, also stealing a base.
- Tunney was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two runs, two RBI, a walk, a bunt and a stolen base.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return tomorrow evening for a single game at 5:00 p.m. against the University of Pikeville. Stay tuned to NJCUGothicKnights.com for results and recaps as they become available.