Clearmont, Fla. … The College of New Jersey softball team opened its Florida series with a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon at the Osceola Softball Complex. The Lions (2-2) defeated Muskingum University, 4-1 in the first game and Westminster College, 8-0 in six innings in game number two.
 
Junior Sam Platt (Cedar Grove, NJ/Montclair Saint Dominic Academy) pitched TCNJ to the win against the Fighting Muskies and Sara Bielamowicz (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) tossed six shutout innings in the win over Westminster. After timely hitting led to the opening triumph, the Lions buckled down on defense and on the mound to avoid any clutch hitting by the Titans (3-1). Westminster threatened throughout the contest, but left 13 runners on base as Bielamowicz allowed just two hits.
 
Freshman Megan Mayernik (Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington) had four hits on the day, including her first career home runs and rookie Danielle Carey (Maple Shade, NJ/Maple Shade) added three hits and drove in four. Sophomore Jess Santelli (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) and classmate Jess McGuire (Stockton, NJ/Hunterdon Central) each had three hits
 
Game 1: TCNJ 4  Muskingum 1
 
The Fighting Muskies took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame of game one. Jessica Matthews singled through the right side to score Krissy Hughes, who had walked and stole second base. The Lions avoided further damage by executing a great relay to cut down a runner at the plate. Rachel Eberling doubled to left field and Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) hit Mayernik, who wheeled and fired a strike to McGuire at the palte. She applied the tag in time and TCNJ was out of the inning.
 
After three scoreless innings, the Lions broke through with three runs in the fourth. Levine doubled to right field to open the inning. She moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by junior Jenna Schwartz (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville). Carey then singled through the left side to plate Levine. After an infield error by Muskingum, Mayernik ripped a single to left to score Carey and put TCNJ ahead 2-1.
 
McGuire then hit a hard ground ball to third that was mishandled. Freshman Annalise Suitovsky (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills) hustled to score all the way from second base to push the lead to 3-1.
 
The Lions tacked on a run in the fifth. Sophomore Gaby Bennett (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) reached on an error and Levine was hit by a pitch. Schwartz put down her second successful sac bunt of the game to put runners at second and third. Carey knocked in her second run with an RBI-ground out to second.
 
Platt was extremely effective after the first inning. She scattered five hits after the first inning and struck out two in the game. In the seventh, a miscommunication in the infield allowed a pop-up to drop in safely to give Muskingum some life. Mayernik quickly took the momentum back, turning an unassisted double play before Platt recorded the final out on a ground ball. Platt from improved to 1-1 on the season and 21-7 in her career.

Game 2: TCNJ  8 Westminster 0 (6 innings)
 
In the nightcap, the Lions took advantage of seven free passes by the Titan pitching staff. They struck quickly in the bottom of the first. Suitovsky drew a walk and advanced to second on a successful bunt by Mayernik. McGuire delivered a sharp single to center, and on the play at the plate, a heads-up slide around the tag by Suitovsky put TCNJ on the board.
 
In the third, Mayernik got her hands inside a tight pitch and lifted it down the left-field line for her first collegiate home run. McGuire followed with a single before Nerylix Cerda (North Bergen, NJ/High Tech) came on to pinch run. Two batters later, Levine doubled to left-center to chase Cerda and the Lions led 3-0.
 
A four-run, fifth inning blew the game open. Carey lined a two-run single to center and sophomore Arielle Couso (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) ripped a run-scoring double to highlight the inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth and up by seven, Santelli drilled a double to right-center to send Mayernik home with the game-winning run. It was the first loss of the season for Westminster.
 
TCNJ is back in action tomorrow (Sunday) for a 9 a.m. match-up with Springfield College, followed by a 1:30 p.m. game against Lesley University.