EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ softball team sent its seniors off in style on Tuesday afternoon, cruising past Rutgers-Newark in a Senior Day NJAC sweep punctuated by a no-hitter from Ally Schlee.

Schlee's no-no – the first by a TCNJ pitcher since Eliza Sweet's five-inning no-hitter against NJCU last spring – became official when the Lions walked off with an 8-0 victory on a run in the bottom of the sixth. The onslaught continued into the nightcap, where an 11-run second inning featuring back-to-back home runs by Victoria Aspiazu and Julia Kinnally paved the way for a 13-1 rout in five innings.   

It was a banner day for TCNJ (25-6, 13-3), which pulled into a tie with Ramapo for first place in the NJAC standings, though the Roadrunners (12-2) are a game ahead in the loss column, with Rowan and Kean both jostling for top billing at 11-3. The Lions scored in every inning but one and didn't allow a hit until a leadoff blooper dropped into left-center in the second inning.

After the games, the Lions honored graduating seniors Aspiazu, Lauren Conroy, and Lindsay Zengel for their contributions to the program. That trio, led by Conroy's stellar five-year tenure, has combined for 227 hits, 151 runs scored, 49 doubles, 7 triples, 20 home runs, and 190 RBIs and played an integral role in two NJAC titles and three NCAA appearances.

Game 1: TCNJ 8, Rutgers-Newark 0 (6)
Fresh off an NJAC player of the week nod, Neveling continued her red-hot recent stretch with a single back up the box to lead off the bottom of the first. With Neveling on second and two outs, Julia Mayernik fought off an inside pitch and sliced it over the pitcher's head to second. The Scarlet Raider second baseman went to a knee and airmailed the throw, allowing Neveling to dash home from third with the game's first run.

Jaclyn Carifi opened the second with a perfectly placed bunt for a base hit, then swiped second easily. Aspiazu worked a walk in front and, on a double steal, the Newark catcher's throw went into shallow left field to permit Carifi to score on a close play at the plate and give TCNJ a 2-0 lead.

TCNJ doubled the spread in the third, when Kayla Hillenbrand dropped a bloop hit into right and Carifi followed with a high chopper up the middle for her second hit in as many at-bats. With two outs, Kinnally smoked a line drive just under the sliding left fielder and raced into second with an RBI double. A wild pitch then sent Carifi sprinting home with another run and a 4-0 lead.

The Lions tacked on two more in the fourth. Neveling led off with a bunt single and stole second before going to third on Davies' sacrifice. After Conroy was plunked, Mayernik lofted a sacrifice fly to left to make it 5-0. One pitch later, Hillenbrand laced an RBI single into center field to plate Conroy.  

Neveling came through again in the fifth, extending the Lions' streak of scoring innings to five with a two-out RBI single through the right side to score Kinnally and give the hosts a 7-0 advantage.

With the game well out of reach, the only drama left was Schlee's pursuit of a no-hitter. It seemed written in the stars in the sixth, when Conroy barehanded a bunt and threw to first for the first out before Newark pitcher Jackie Lara sent a screaming liner right into the glove of Hillenbrand at first. After a pop up to Conroy, it was either three outs – or one TCNJ run – to make it official. It turned out to be the latter.

Conroy roped a leadoff double to right-center to open the sixth. Mayernik reached on an error, and the third baseman compounded the mistake with an errant throw to allow Conroy to take third. Hillenbrand's base hit through the left side walked it off.

Schlee overcame a spot of early wildness in which she matched her season high with three walks in the first two innings alone, stranding a runner on second in the first and runners on second and third in the second. She wound up with five strikeouts to four free passes.

The Lions were active on the base paths, stealing six bases in the opener. Carifi and Neveling had two swipes apiece.

Neveling and Hillenbrand each finished 3-for-4, with the former scoring two runs and the latter driving in two. Carifi was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Kinnally went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI.

Game 2: TCNJ 13, Rutgers-Newark 1 (5)
Neveling got the Lions off to a fast start again in the nightcap, dropping a blooper into center and stealing second. Davies beat out a bunt for a base hit and got caught in a rundown, allowing Neveling to come home.

Carifi reached on an infield hit in the bottom of the second and stole second before Aspiazu brought her home with a double to the gap in right-center. After a walk to Kinnally, Zengel reached on a bunt single to load the bases with no outs for Neveling, who delivered a two-run double to the left-center gap to make it 4-0. Two batters later, Conroy bounced a single through the right side to score both Zengel and Neveling for a 6-0 lead, and Conroy scurried to the plate on Mayernik's base hit through the left side to make it 7-0.

Hillenbrand switched places with Conroy with an RBI double to left-center and, after another Carifi single, Aspiazu sent a towering shot over the fence in dead center for a three-run blast, her team-leading fourth of the year. Three pitches later, Kinnally put a solo shot in almost the same spot to make it 12-0. The Lions racked up 11 runs on 10 hits and sent 14 to the plate.

The Scarlet Raiders got on the board for the first time on Alex DiMartino's leadoff homer in the third.

Aspiazu (3-for-3, 4 RBI, 2R), Neveling (2-for-3, 2R, 2 RBI), Carifi (3-for-3, 2R), Mayernik (3-for-3, 2 RBI, R), Conroy (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Davies (2-for-3) all had multiple hits for TCNJ, which saw every starter record a hit and score a run.

Julia Roessler got the win with 4.1 innings of one-run ball, surrendering two hits with two walks while striking out three.

The Lions close the regular season with a huge doubleheader at Ramapo, where NJAC Championship Tournament seeding will be on the line.