Allentown, PA... The College of New Jersey softball team came out swinging in a doubleheader sweep at Muhlenberg College on Wednesday as the Lions collected 22 hits in the two games coming away with a pair of solid wins. TCNJ took the opening game 9-1 in five innings and then completed the sweep with a 7-0 triumph in the second.
 
The two victories put the Lions at 9-5 on the season, while the Mules dropped to 4-8.
 
The two wins were also the 449^th and 450^th for head coach Sally Miller. The veteran coach, who is in her 17^th season, is an impressive 450-207-2 during that time as the skipper of TCNJ's program.
 
Next up for the Lions is home opener on Saturday, March 24 when the Lions host 22^nd-ranked SUNY Cortland at Lions' Park. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m.
 
Game One
TCNJ 9 Muhlenberg College 1 (5 innings)
The Lions started fast in the opening game scoring three times in the first inning with Nicole Brodbeck (Atco, NJ/Hammonton) plating the initial two runs of the inning with a single, while Katelyn Congilose (Toms River, NJ/Monsignor Donovan) drove in the other with a base hit.
 
TCNJ had another big inning in the second scoring four times to take a commanding 7-0 after an inning and a half. Sophomore Kristen Lake (Readington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) opened the scoring in the second with a run-scoring single, while Kelly Hommen (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) accounted for the next two with a single. The final run of the inning was unearned extending the difference to seven runs.
 
The lead grew by a run in the fourth as junior Liz Huttner (Princeton Junction, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South) drove in a run with a hit and in the fifth, Crystal Lee (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) drove home Michelle Casale (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) for the team's ninth run.
 
That run support was more than enough for pitcher Lauren Fitzsimmons (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) as the senior scattered three hits and allowed one run over the five innings. It was her team-leading sixth win of the season.
 
In all, TCNJ collected 12 hits with eight different players getting at least one. Lee finished 3-for-4, while Huttner was 2-for-3.
 
Game Two
TCNJ 7, Muhlenberg College 0
Sophomore pitcher Alex Carisone (Branchburg, NJ/Rutgers Prep) fired a complete-game shutout to complete the sweep limiting the Mules to five hits.
 
Like the opening game, TCNJ scored early getting a run in the first as Lee walked and later scored on a double by Huttner.
 
Hommen extended that lead to 3-0 in the third with a two-run home run before Michelle Kent (Sparta, NJ/Pope John) drove in a run in the fourth with a hit and pinch-runner Lindsey Williams (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury) came home a couple batters later when Casale singled.
 
The Lions rounded out the scoring in the sixth with two more runs as Lee and Casale each had RBI singles.
 
Lee finished with a pair of hits and scored three times, while Casale had two hits and drove in a pair. Huttner added her second two-hit game of the day as she finished 2-for-4.