EWING, N.J. – The No. 16 TCNJ softball team swept Stockton in the NJAC Semifinals on Tuesday. The second-seeded Lions took both games from the sixth-seeded Ospreys by final scores of 4-1 and 2-0.
With today's wins, the Lions advance to the conference championship series, where they will face the No. 4 seed in Kean. The series will be a best-of-three taking place at Dr. June Walker Field, starting on Friday, May 14. Games one and two will be on Friday, with game three if-necessary on Saturday.
Game One:
The Lions tallied the first run of the afternoon in the third inning.
Jaclyn Carifi reached on a throwing error then advanced to second. After a
Kaci Neveling blooper pushed Carifi to third,
Katie Winchock drove her in with an RBI groundout. Winchock hit a dribbler down the first base line and avoided the tag which allowed Carifi to score.
Another manufactured run in the fourth inning doubled the Lions' lead.
Lauren Conroy worked a leadoff walk, then
Julia Kinnally beat out an infield single. After a groundout pushed the runners over, Carifi legged out a base hit to third base to make it 2-0 ballgame.
TCNJ starting pitcher
Eliza Sweet went four strong shutout innings.
Ally Schlee finished the game off with the final three innings to earn her third save of the season. The Ospreys pushed over one run against Schlee in the fifth, yet TCNJ countered with a pair in the bottom half of the inning. The Stockton run ended a remarkable 27-inning scoreless streak for TCNJ's pitching staff.
Kinnally earned a tough RBI by getting hit with a pitch with the bases loaded.
Victoria Aspiazu then reached on an error, which scored
Allie Immerso to make it a 4-1 lead.
The four runs proved to be enough for the combination of Sweet and Schlee. Sweet struck out five, walked only one, and improved to 8-2 on the year.
Stockton mounted a threat in the seventh inning, yet the Lions sealed the win with an exciting defensive play. With a runner on first, Lilly James of Stockton laced a double to left field. The relay throw came from Immerso to Kinnally, and Kinnaly gunned down the runner trying to score with a perfect throw to catcher
Julia Mayernik who applied the tag to seal the game one win.
Game Two:
TCNJ starting pitcher
Alanna Namit shut down the Osprey attack, tossing a complete game, two-hit shutout. Namit improved to 9-1 this year with her ninth complete game and sixth shutout.
Game two was a pitcher's duel, with neither team getting a hit in the first three innings. In the fourth, Immerso worked a walk then advanced to third with a Kinnally double. Aspiazu drove in the run with an RBI-sacrifice fly to left field.
An insurance RBI came off the bat of
Elyse Nardozza in the sixth inning. She ripped one over the left fielder's head to score Immerso, who got on base with another walk. Namit continued her strong pitching to shut the door and advance TCNJ to the conference championship.
The Lions swept the regular-season series over Kean on April 10, 2-0 and 6-2. TCNJ and Kean will begin the conference championship series on May 14 at Dr. June Walker Field, with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m.
