Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey softball team split a doubleheader for the second straight day as the Lions defeated visiting Salisbury University in the opener before falling in the second game on Sunday at Lions’ Park.

TCNJ (7-2) claimed the opener 10-5, before the Sea Gulls (15-5) quieted TCNJ’s bats in the second game with a 2-0 victory.

Game 1: TCNJ 10, Salisbury 5 (Box Score)
TCNJ’s bats were alive from the opening inning as the Lions scored three times in the bottom of the first. Christina Lizzi (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) opened the scoring as she doubled in a run and then came around to score on a ground out by Danielle Hagel (Egg Harbor City, NJ/Oakcrest). The final run of the inning came on base hit by Lauren Musacchia (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) driving in Jen Hughes (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) for a 3-0 lead.

The Lions scored four times in the second with Musacchia getting the big hit in the inning driving in a pair of runs with a single to center.

The Sea Gulls got one of the runs back in the top of the third as Kurisha Hoffman (Lutherville, MD/Towson) hit her first home run of the season to left.

Senior Kristin Boyer (Annandale, NJ/North Hunterdon) got the run back for the Lions in the latter half of the inning as she crushed a two-run homer to right making it a 9-1 game. Boyer finished the game with a pair of hits as she eclipsed the 100-hit plateau for her career.

The Sea Gulls later closed the gap to 10-5 in the seventh on Hoffman’s second homer of the game, but TCNJ freshman Ashley Minervini (Cliffside, NJ/Cliffside) recorded the final two outs to secure the win.

Senior Julianne Lajiness (Monroe Twp., NJ/Notre Dame) earned the win going 6-1/3 innings to improve to 4-0 on the season.

Tara Harrigan (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) also contributed to the win for TCNJ with her first home run of the season.

Game 2: Salisbury 2, TCNJ 0 (Box Score)
Sea Gull pitcher Stacy Davis (Westminster, MD/Westminster) carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth before Harrigan broke up the bid with a two-out double. Davis finished the game with a three-hit shutout for her fourth win of the year.

Salisbury scored what turned out to be the winning run in the top of the first as Ali Ritter (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) singled home Stacey Malarkey (Taneytown, MD/Francis Scott Key).
The Sea Gulls made it 2-0 in the fourth scoring on a wild pitch.

Minervini went the distance for the Lions suffering her first defeat of the season. She finished the game strong recording the final 11 outs in order.

The Lions return home on Wednesday, March 28 to host Muhlenberg College in a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m.