EWING, N.J. – Huge days at the plate from the top of the order propelled the TCNJ softball team to its second non-conference sweep in as many days, as the Lions held on for a wild 12-9 victory over Manhattanville in the opener before sealing an unbeaten afternoon with a 5-2 victory in Game 2.

Kaci Neveling and Lauren Conroy combined for eight hits, seven runs scored, and seven RBIs from the top two spots in the order, helping the Lions (10-3) extend their weekend winning streak to four. Conroy reached a milestone, logging her 150^th career hit as part of a 4-for-6 day that included a home run, a double, five RBIs, and four runs scored.

Game 1: TCNJ 12, Manhattanville 9
Both teams scored in the first inning, with Giovanna Liggett putting the Valiants on top with a two-out RBI double.

Neveling quickly manufactured an equalizer for the Lions. She poked a 1-2 pitch through the left side, then took second on a wild pitch and third on a subsequent throwing error by the catcher. Conroy smoked a hot shot at the Manhattanville second baseman, who was unable to corral a high hop the Lions' veteran earned herself an RBI single.

The Valiants loaded the bases with only one out in the third, but a heads-up play by Conroy helped the Lions get out of the jam unscathed. Conroy charged hard on a well-placed bunt, fielded it just off the third-base line and scooped to Julia Mayernik for the second out. Two pitches later, Gillian Roberts got the next batter to bounce out to Julia Kinnally, who threw to Conroy at third for the inning-ending force.

Conroy served an 0-2 pitch into left for her 150^th career hit in the bottom of the third, putting Neveling on second after the junior's second knock of the opener. Kinnally was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs for Kayla Hillenbrand, who cleared them with a line-drive double over the left fielder's head to give TCNJ out to a 4-1 lead.

Roberts put up a quick shutdown frame, needing only four pitches to retire the side in the fourth. She got some help from her defense, with Jaclyn Carifi diving to snare a hard liner toward the gap in left-center.

Carifi led off the next inning with a hard double to the same left-center gap, took third on a base hit by Lindsay Zengel, and scored on a groundout by Neveling. Conroy extended the lead to five on a slicing double just off the center fielder's glove, and Mayernik tacked on with an RBI single to right to score Conroy and make it 7-1. Hillenbrand pushed it out to run-rule territory two pitches later, when her line drive was dropped by the center fielder, allowing Kinnally and Mayernik to score for a 9-1 margin.

Four errors and a wild pitch allowed Manhattanville to avoid the run rule with four runs in the fifth. The Lions got one back in the bottom half on Neveling's second RBI single, taking a 10-5 advantage.

That run proved monumental when the Valiants scored four times in the sixth, getting within 10-9. They still had two on when Mayernik threw the lead runner out at third as she tried to advance on a ball in the dirt.

Victoria Aspiazu then gave the Lions some huge insurance with a two-out bomb to right-center field after an error kept the inning alive, and Roessler nailed down the win with a 1-2-3 seventh.

Conroy and Neveling posted matching stat lines, each going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Hillenbrand drove in three runs and Kinnally scored two, and Zengel went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs.

Roberts faced constant traffic on the bases, but consistently managed to pitch around it. The right-hander held the Valiants to 1-for-15 with runners on base, and the visitors stranded five in the first three innings alone. Her final line charged her with five runs, but only one was earned, and she threw only 53 pitchers in her 4.1 innings of work.

Game 2: TCNJ 5, Manhattanville 2
Conroy stayed hot in Game 2, lofting a two-run home run off the top of the fence in left in the first inning for her 13^th career dinger.

Giovanna Liggett's solo shot to open the second cut the Lions' lead to 2-1, but Conroy's sac fly scored Zengel with a responding run in the bottom half of the frame.

After a spectacular catch in the opener, Carifi showed her skills in the infield in the nightcap, laying out at full extension to snare a grounder headed into right field and throwing the batter out from the cut of the outfield grass. She also made multiple impressive plays to snare line drives from her second-base spot.

Carifi maintained her torrid hitting pace with an RBI single to score Hillenbrand and expand the TCNJ advantage to 4-1 with two outs in the third.

Manhattanville scored a run in the fourth, but TCNJ pushed the margin back thanks to an error in the fifth that allowed Conroy to score after a leadoff walk. Zengel, who went 4-for-6 with four steals and four runs on the afternoon, helped manufacture another run in the sixth, beating out an infield single and swiping second before

Ally Schlee stayed unbeaten (4-0) with a solid effort in the circle, allowing two runs on five hits. She struck out one and did not issue a walk.

The Lions hit the road to take on Drew on Wednesday.