Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey softball team finally returned to the field after having a series of doubleheaders postponed due to the recent bad weather, but the Lions dropped both games against visiting Richard Stockton College on Tuesday.
 
The Ospreys held on for a 5-3 win in the first game and then took the second by the count of 9-3.
 
The two games were the New Jersey Athletic Conference openers for the Lions, who were playing for the first time since March 22, are now 6-12 overall. The Ospreys, who played two conference games on Monday are 13-5 overall and 2-2 in league play.
 
The two losses left Head Coach Sally Miller sitting on 499 career wins as she looks to become the 38^th coach in Division III history to reach the 500-win plateau.
 
Miller and the rest of the Lions will be right back on the field tomorrow, April 2 for another NJAC doubleheader when Ramapo College visits Dr. June Walker Field for a pair of games. The first game of the twin bill is set for 3 p.m.
 
Game 1
Richard Stockton College 5, The College of New Jersey 3
Both teams got on the scoreboard in the first inning with the Ospreys scoring three times and the Lions once. Senior Nicole Chabak (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) drove in the first run with a double, while senior Nicole Scanlon (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) drove in the other two with a base hit. All three of those runs were unearned.
 
TCNJ got one back in the bottom half of the inning as scoring sophomore Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley) walked with the bases loaded to bring in a run. The Lions almost had a couple of more runs when sophomore Jamie Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) drove the ball into the gap in right center, but Osprey right fielder Rachel Forte (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) made a diving catch to end the inning. That catch came with the bases loaded.
 
The Ospreys scored two more in the second to bump their advantage to 5-1.
 
The Lions got one of those back in the third when senior Nicole Brodbeck (Atco, NJ/Hammonton) and sophomore Kristen Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) hit back-to-back double with Brodbeck scoring.
 
TCNJ chipped another run off the deficit in the fifth when freshman Jessica Kennick (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) lofted a sacrifice fly to deep center scoring senior Kristen Lake (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central), who started the inning with a triple.
 
Sophomore Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) held the Ospreys in check as she tossed 5.2 innings of scoreless relief, but Richard Stockton pitcher Brittany Ksiezopolski (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) closed the door by keeping the hosts off of the scoreboard in the final two innings as the game finished with a 5-3 score.
 
Lake went 2-for-4 for the Lions with a pair of extra-base hits.
 
Chabak had a steady game at the plate for the Ospreys with three hits and two RBI.
 
Game 2
Richard Stockton College 9, The College of New Jersey 3
Richard Stockton once again grabbed the early lead scoring an unearned run in the second, before sophomore Samantha Shockey (Deptford, NJ/Deptford) added to it in the third with a three-run home run to left.
 
 TCNJ chipped a run off of that margin in the third when Kennick singled home a run to make it 4-1.
 
The Ospreys scored four more in the fifth with senior Grace Long (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) accounting for three of them on a homer. The guests added another run in that inning to lead 8-1.
 
The Lions used the long ball in the fifth to get another run back when Lake went the opposite way to right field for a solo home run making it 8-2.
 
Richard Stockton plated another run in the sixth and the Lions added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to make the final 9-3.
 
Kennick went 3-for-4 in the second game and Lake tacked on two more hits giving her four on the day.
 
Shockey had a big game for the Ospreys going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in.
 
After earning the save in the opening game, Ksiezopolski hurled a complete game to get the win.