NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The New Jersey City University softball program competed for the third consecutive day as part of the FastPitch Dreams Spring Classic on Tuesday, March 5. The Gothic Knights played in a pair of games on Tuesday, dropping a hard-fough, 4-3 extra-inning game in the morning against King's College (Pa.) before falling to Division II Malone University, 5-0, in the afternoon.
King's 4, NJCU 3 (8 inn.)
The Green and Gold (1-4) got another strong performance in the circle from senior righthander
Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs), who was unfortunately saddled with the loss, as she tossed 7.0 innings of four-hit ball, allowing three earned runs with 10 strikeouts — it was her 10th-career double-digit strikeout performance of her career. NJCU was unable to get anything going against the Monarchs (6-0) over the first two innings, but put together some nice offensive in the top of the third to go up 3-0.
Rookie outfielder
Alonah Olden (Lake George, N.Y./Lake George) got things started by reaching on an error with one out and then stole second. Later on, with two outs, junior third base
Mya Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) continued the strong start to her season with a one-run single to the gap in right to make it 1-0. Junior
Paola Calderon (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Adams) was next, singling up the middle to put runners on first and second. Still with two outs, junior backstop
Abby Castro (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech) broke through with a big two-run double to the gap in left, making it 3-0 — it was her second double of the season and her first two RBIs of the year.
After a strong bottom of the third for Dabbadie, the bottom of the fourth saw King's put up three runs on three hits with one NJCU error to tie it up at 3-3, despite the NJCU pitcher notching three strikeouts that inning. From the point on, neither team was able to come anywhere close to producing offensively and the game headed to extras. The Gothic Knights had an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the eighth, with the free runner — Mendolla — advancing from second to third on a wild pitch with no outs. Unfortunately, the Monarchs were able to keep NJCU off the board. Then, a well-placed sac bunt with no outs in the bottom of the seventh resulted in a throwing error, giving King's the 4-3 win as the runner came around to score on the play.
Senior
Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) had a nice game against the Monarchs, going 2-for-2 with a walk.
Malone 5, NJCU 0
Senior righthander
Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) got the nod once again for her second start in the circle this season. She had a quality day against Malone (8-2), going 7.0 innings while allowing three earned runs, but drew the loss once again. Both teams went down in order in the first before the Pioneers scratched one across in the top of the second. Malone scored two more on five hits in the third to go up 3-0 before closing out the scoring with a pair in the top of the fifth. Junior first base
Jaelynn Barrios (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) and freshman outfielder
Cheyenn Fulton (Jersey City, N.J./Hudson Catholic) each went 1-for-2 against Malone.
Up Next:
NJCU plays its final two games of the FastPitch Dreams Spring Classic on Wednesday, March 6, against Martin Luther College at 11:00 a.m., followed by a scheduled-1:00 p.m. first pitch against Bay Path University.
