Clermont, FL…The College of New Jersey softball team picked up its first win of the young season as the Lions posted a 5-0 victory over Penn State Berhend on Tuesday in Florida. TCNJ almost made it sweep of its two games on the day, only to see its rally against SUNY Cortland come up a run short falling to the Red Dragons, 5-4.

TCNJ is back on the field on Wednesday, March 11 facing Rhode Island College and Wisconsin Lutheran College.

TCNJ 5, Penn State Berhend 0 
Box Score

Junior Ashley Minervini (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) picked up her first win on the mound with a shutout over Penn State Behrend and finished with eight strikeouts.

TCNJ got all of the offense it would need in the bottom of the first as sophomore Colleen Cawley (Riverton, NJ/Holy Cross) drove in junior Ellen Seavers (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) with a base hit to center field. Cawley would later make it a 2-0 as she scored on a passed ball.

One inning later, the Lions pushed their lead to 3-0 as junior Rachel Greeby (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) singled and came around to score on a double by freshman Katelyn Congilose (Toms River, NJ/Monsignor Donovan).

The game's final two runs came in the fifth as Seavers drove home sophomore Kathy Sikora (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) with a base hit and Seavers then scored on a hit by Cawley making the final margin 5-0.

SUNY Cortland 5, TCNJ 4 
Box Score
The Lions fell behind early and nearly completed a big comeback falling by a run to the Red Dragons.

After SUNY Cortland got out to a 5-0 lead, TCNJ stormed back in the sixth scoring four times. The first run came as sophomore Caitlin Seamster (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) knocked in a run with a base hit and Congilose then plated two more with a double. The inning's final run came when senior Kelly Armstrong (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) raced home on a passed ball.