Wayne, NJ… The College of New Jersey softball team posted shutout wins in both ends of a doubleheader at 17^th-ranked William Paterson University on Sunday in the New Jersey Athletic Conference opener for both teams.  
 
Junior pitcher Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) tossed a 3-0 shutout in the first game of the twin bill, while classmate Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) matched that performance in the nightcap with her own 3-0 shutout.
 
The two wins push TCNJ's modest win streak to five straight as they are 9-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
 
The two losses dropped the Pioneers to 9-5 overall and 0-2 in the NJAC.
 
The Lions will play their home opener at Dr. June Walker Field on Tuesday, March 31 when Rowan University visits for a doubleheader. The opening game of the doubleheader is set for 3 p.m.
 
Game 1
TCNJ 3, #17 William Paterson University 0   
Helmer went the distance for her third win of the season as she scattered five hits and struck out eight. The Pioneers did come close to spoiling the shutout in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out triple, but Helmer fanned the next batter to get out of the inning.
 
The Lions got all the runs they would need in the fourth, pushing a pair of runs across the plate. Freshman Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) scored the first run on a throwing error following a base hit by junior Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley Regional). Utter scored one batter later when sophomore Colleen Phelan (Tinton Falls, NJ/Monmouth Regional) singled to left field.
 
Utter added an extra insurance run in the sixth when she launched a solo home run down the left-field line for a 3-0 lead. She finished the game going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
 
Game 2
TCNJ 3, #17 William Paterson University 0 
The second game was scoreless until the top of the seventh when the Lions broke through with three runs. Sophomore Olivia Fahr (Stewartsville, NJ/Phillipsburg) accounted for the initial run when she walked and raced home on an infield throwing error.
 
Freshman Bria Bartsch (Montville, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) then made it 2-0 with a RBI single to right field that brought home junior Christine Desiderio (Babylon, NY/Babylon). Bartsch then scored the third run off the inning on a ground out by Jamie Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy).
 
Hourihan and the defense then shut the door as she retired the side in order in the last of the seventh with a pair of ground outs a strike out. Hourihan gave up only four hits and struck out three for her team-leading fourth victory of the season.
 
Bartsch was the only player in the game with two hits, collecting two singles in four trips to the plate.