Glassboro, NJ… The College of New Jersey softball team advanced in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament by knocking off top-seeded Rowan University 2-1 on Friday in Glassboro, NJ.
 
The fourth-seeded Lions (20-11) scored both runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to move onto Saturday, where they face fifth-seeded Kean University (24-10-1) at noon. The Cougars eliminated Rutgers-Camden in the first game of the day, 2-0.
 
Rowan (34-5) and the Lions are both 1-1 in the double-elimination tournament.
 
All of the scoring took place in the fifth inning with the hosts getting on the scoreboard in the top half of the inning. The Profs, who were the visitors in the game, got on the board with a RBI double by Jessica Phillips.
 
TCNJ had a good response in its half of the inning by getting two runs across the plate. The first run came on a single up the middle by freshman Bria Bartsch (Montville, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) that brought home classmate Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills). Junior Christine Desiderio (Babylon, NY/Babylon) put TCNJ in front 2-1 when she scored on a Rowan error.
 
The Profs tried to get the equalizer, putting runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but each time Lion pitcher Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) got out of the inning. She picked up her ninth win of the year going seven innings with five strike outs.
 
Bartsch had a big game at the plate going 3-for-3 and a RBI. Freshman Jess Stevenson (Belmar, NJ/Red Bank Regional) picked up a pair of hits, including a double.
 
Junior Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley) had an effective day at the plate reaching base twice, drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch.