Jersey City, NJ... The College of New Jersey needed only five innings in the second game of a doubleheader at New Jersey City University to post a 13-1 win as the Lions battled back to gain a split against the Gothic Knights on Saturday. The hosts won the opener 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
The win kept 20^th-ranked TCNJ in third place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a record of 9-5 and they are 22-10 overall. The split put NJCU at 13-20 overall and 2-12 in league play.
 
The Lions round out the home portion of the schedule on Tuesday, April 23, hosting Rutgers-Newark for a doubleheader. The opening game is set for 3 p.m.
 
Game 1
New Jersey City University 4, TCNJ 3
The Gothic Knights scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning to spoil a two-run rally by the Lions in the top of the final frame.
 
Trailing 3-1 heading into its final at bat, TCNJ trimmed one run off the deficit on a single by senior Liz Huttner (Princeton Junction, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South) to score classmate Ashley Sogluizzo (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South), who got aboard with a one-double. Pinch-runner Kristen Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) later tied the game on a single by senior Kelly Hommen (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood).
 
The hosts then got the lead-off batter on in the bottom of the inning and scored on a fly ball to center field.
 
TCNJ scored its other run in the top of the fourth, after NJCU struck for a pair in the last of the third. The Lion run came when freshman Jackie Oram (Lexington, MA/Lexington) scored on a Gothic Knight error.
 
Huttner finished with a pair of hits and drove in a run.
 
Freshman pitcher Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) allowed only a pair of unearned runs and struck out six, but suffered the loss.
 
The win in the opening game marked the first time in program history the Gothic Knights defeated a ranked opponent, as well as notching a win over the Lions.
 
Game 2
TCNJ 13, New Jersey City University 1 (5 innings)
 
In the bottom of the first, the hosts got off to a fast start as Casey Perez (West New York, NJ/Academy of the Holy Angels) led off with a triple and later touched home on a double by Rebecca Satz (Morris Plains, NJ/Morristown) for a 1-0 lead.
 
It only took a half inning before the Lions took their first lead when freshmen Steph Vuono (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) and Christine Desiderio (Babylon, NY/Babylon) each had productive at bats with runners in scoring position. Vuono drove in a run on a ground out and Desiderio on a fielder's choice.
 
The runs then came in bunches the next two innings, starting in the third when the Lions scored four times. The big hit in the inning came off of the bat of freshman Jamie Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) as the catcher belted a two-run homer. It was her first collegiate home run.
 
In the fourth, the Lions pushed seven runs across the plate and were aided by a pair of NJCU errors. Vuono and Huttner each came up with clutch hits driving in two runs with a single. TCNJ batted around in the inning sending 11 batters to the plate.
 
Junior Alex Carisone (Branchburg, NJ/Rutgers Prep) cruised after allowing that run in the opening inning to notch her fourth win of the season. She finished with six strike outs in those five innings and issued just one walk.
 
The Lions pounded out 15 hits in the win with senior Michelle Casale (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex), Huttner, Purcell, and Sogluizzo each collecting three hits and Huttner tacked on a pair.