EWING, N.J. – The No. 10 TCNJ softball team came within three outs of a season-opening sweep against DeSales on Wednesday, but was forced to settle for a near-miss after the nightcap was called due to darkness at the end of the fourth inning.
Ally Schlee pitched a strong game in the circle and the Lions backed her with early run support en route to a 4-2 victory in the opener. TCNJ was in control in Game 2, leading 5-1 when the umpires suspended the nightcap following the final out of the fourth.
Game 1: TCNJ 4, DeSales 2
The Lions got all the offense they'd need in the first inning, when
Kaci Neveling led off with an infield single and stole second before crossing the plate with the game's first run on a double to left by
Lauren Conroy, who scored herself on
Victoria Aspiazu's sharp single up the middle. After a lineout,
Jaclyn Carifi plated Asoiazu with a knock up the middle to extend the lead to 3-0.
The offense fizzled from there, but Schlee was on a roll in the circle. The junior conceded just one hit in the first four innings and was cruising along until Kayleigh Ferraro hit a leadoff homer to left field in the fifth to get the Bulldogs on the board. DeSales put two on in the frame, but the runner on second stumbled heading back to the bag and
Julia Mayernik managed to throw her out before she reached it to avert further damage.
DeSales got to within 3-2 on a two-out passed ball in the sixth, but the Lions countered with one of their own in the bottom half on
Kayla Hillenbrand's sacrifice fly. It scored Carifi, who dropped a perfect bunt in front of the plate to lead off the inning, stole second, and moved to third on a wild pitch before Hillenbrand's hard liner sent her sprinting to the plate with an insurance run.
The Bulldogs threatened again in the seventh. With rookie
Marina Costello in to pitch her collegiate debut, DeSales had runners on first and second with just one out. Costello induced a weak pop-up for the second out, but Nikki Secara dropped a base hit just over the head of shortstop
Julia Kinnally.
Neveling quickly got to the ball and delivered a strike to Mayernik, who threw down to third to eventually catch Chloe Howard in a run-down. Howard was called out when she left the base path trying to avoid a tag, ending the game.
Hillenbrand finished 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI for TCNJ, while Carifi and Neveling each went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Carifi led an active effort on the basepaths with two stolen bases, with Neveling and Zengel also swiping a bag.
Schlee earned the win with six strong innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. She struck out two and did not walk a batter.
Game 2: TCNJ 5, DeSales 1 (Suspended)
Roberts did well to work out of a jam in the second, when back-to-back one-out errors set DeSales up for a big inning. But the junior got a fielder's choice and a towering fly to Carifi in center to wriggle out of danger.
She was quickly rewarded with a lead as Mayernik dropped her second career home run just inside the foul pole in left field, a towering shot that made it 1-0 to lead off the bottom of the second. TCNJ tacked on more in the frame, scoring twice when the Bulldogs' shortstop dropped a force-out with the bases loaded and allowed Zengel and Hillenbrand to score.
DeSales got on the board in the third, but TCNJ came right back in the bottom half. The Lions loaded the bases with one out in large part thanks to an error, and
Lindsay Zengel ripped a single to center to make it 4-1.
The Lions piled on in the fourth, when Davies worked a leadoff walk and Conroy sent her to third with a frozen rope through the right side. Aspiazu nearly cranked a three-run homer, but her high drive was caught with a nice over-the-shoulder grab just in front of the wall, scoring Davies with a sacrifice fly.
Roberts acquitted herself well in her third career start, surrendering just one hit across four strong innings.
The Lions made a handful of impressive defensive plays, including a lunging stab by Conroy at the hot corner to end the first and a juggling catch by Kinnally on a soft liner in the second.
Up Next
TCNJ has 10 days off before taking on Scranton in its spring-break opener in Florida on March 12.
