MADISON, N.J. – The TCNJ softball team will take an extended winning streak into NJAC play as the Lions polished off their non-conference slate with a sweep of Drew on Wednesday.
Lauren Conroy drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as TCNJ held off the Rangers, 5-3, in the opener before a six-run outburst in the fourth inning propelled the visitors to a 9-0 mercy-rule shutout in the nightcap.
Rookie
Mckayla Yard homered, drove in four runs, and scored three more on the day for the Lions (12-3), who posted their third consecutive sweep and brought two big wins back with them from their first road trip of the season.
Game 1: TCNJ 5, Drew 3 (8)
The Lions had only one hit and trailed 2-0 with two outs and nobody on in the top of the fourth, then sprang a rally out of nowhere.
Victoria Aspiazu was hit by a pitch, and
Jaclyn Carifi extended the inning with a base hit before Yard gave TCNJ a surprise lead with a three-run homer to left, her second dinger of the season.
Drew countered with a single run of its own in the bottom half, and the teams went to extra innings still locked in a 3-3 stalemate.
Julia Roessler worked out of a huge jam in the bottom of the seventh, when Drew (15-7) had runners on first and second with no outs as well as runners on second and third with one out but were unable to push across the winning run. The rookie left-hander induced a groundout to a drawn-in Conroy at third before retiring the side on a fly-out to right.
TCNJ capitalized in the eighth, when
Kaci Neveling moved
Lindsay Zengel, who was placed on second to begin the frame, to third with a groundout. That set up a sacrifice fly by Conroy for a 4-3 lead, and back-to-back doubles by
Julia Mayernik and
Julia Kinnally gave the Lions an insurance tally.
Roessler didn't need it, as it turned out, setting down the side in order and punctuating the win with a strikeout. She worked four innings, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts in relief of
Gillian Roberts, who surrendered three runs on five hits in the first four frames.
Game 2: TCNJ 9, Drew 1 (5)
TCNJ only scored in two innings of Game 2, but put up big crooked numbers in both. It all started with a three-run second that was helped along by a wild pitch and an error, and featured a sac fly from Conroy and an RBI single by Yard.
The Lions put the game away with a six-run fourth. Conroy started the explosion with a double and took third on a base hit by Yard. Zengel followed with an RBI single, and Yard scored as part of a double steal in which Zengel took second.
Marina Costello's two-run double made it 7-0, and Mayernik produced an RBI double to left to score the rookie. Carifi capped the scoring with an infield single to plate Mayernik.
Ally Schlee was on cruise control, conceding two solitary singles in the first four frames before the Rangers broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fifth. Drew threatened to extend the series for at least another inning, but the Lions turned two on a base hit to the outfield, throwing out the runner at home and the other at second to end the game.
Schlee (5-0) struck out a season-high five batters in remaining unbeaten on the year.
The Lions spread 10 hits between eight players, with Yard (two runs scored) and Carifi each going 2-for-3. Eight players scored a run and TCNJ stole seven bases, with Neveling, Yard, and Zengel each swiping two.
TCNJ opens NJAC play with a home doubleheader against Kean on Saturday.
