Clermont, FL… The College New Jersey softball team ended the day on a positive note as the Lions posted a 6-0 shutout over Plymouth State University on Tuesday in Florida. That win came after the team suffered a 9-2 setback against Hope College to start the day.
 
The split put TCNJ at 5-3 on the season and they have won four of its six games on their southern swing with two games remaining.
 
The Lions enjoy another off day on Wednesday, before concluding their trip a day later with games against Utica College and McDaniel College
 
Hope College 9, TCNJ 2
Miscues hurt the Lions in their first game of the day as the Flying Dutch scored four unearned runs on their way to a 9-2 win.
 
TCNJ struck first with a run in the bottom of the first as junior Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley Regional) executed a squeeze play that scored freshman Bria Bartsch (Montville, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy). Bartsch led off the inning with walk and when she touched the plate, she put the Lions in front 1-0.
 
Hope came back to tie the score in the second and then forged ahead with four runs in the third. Three of the runs in that inning were unearned.
 
The Lions got one of those runs back in the last of the third. Freshman Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) singled and two batters later scored on a triple to center field by Utter. That run made it a 5-2 contest.
 
Hope then added four more runs over the next three innings to secure the win.
 
Levine had two hits for the Lions, while Utter reached base twice with and drove in both TCNJ runs.
 
TCNJ 6, Plymouth State University 0
TCNJ didn't waste any time putting the opening game behind them as they jumped on the Panthers early. Sophomore Colleen Phelan (Tinton Falls, NJ/Monmouth Regional) drove in the first two runs of the game with a two-out double that brought home Levine and Utter. One batter later, freshman Jess Stevenson (Belmar, NJ/Red Bank Regional) plated Phelan with a double of her own for a 3-0 advantage.
 
The Lions got back on the scoreboard in the fourth inning thanks to the long ball as sophomore Nerylix Cerda (North Bergen, NJ/High Tech) led off the frame with her first career home run. Later in the inning, they added another run to make it a 5-0 lead when Bartsch scored on an error.
 
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth when Phelan started the inning with a double and scored a couple batters later on an infield error by the panthers.
 
Freshman pitcher Sam Platt (Cedar Grove, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) and junior Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) combined on the three-hit shutout with Hourihan picking up the win.
 
Levine and Cerda powered the offense with three hits apiece, while Phelan picked up two doubles in her only two official plate appearances. She also drew a walk and scored twice, while driving in a pair.