CLEVELAND, OHIO – The TCNJ softball team took host Case Western Reverse to extras in a thrilling pitchers' duel in Friday's NCAA Tournament regional opener, but a two-out run in the top of the ninth lifted the 25^th-ranked Spartans to a 2-1, nine-inning triumph.

Ally Schlee and Marina Costello combined to allow just three hits for TCNJ (27-10), which tied the game on Julia Mayernik's solo homer in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to push another run across. The Lions will take on No. 13 Roanoke, a 1-0 loser to Concordia (Wisc.) in the second game of the day, in an elimination bout at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Schlee and Costello engaged in a pitch-for-pitch duel of dazzling performances in the circle with the Spartans' Lexi Miskey, who went all nine innings and broke the program record for strikeouts with 14.

With the help of Mayernik, who threw out a runner at third to end the first, Schlee had a shutout and a no-hitter going until the fourth, when she hit a batter with one out. Miskey pinch ran and stole second, then scored the game's first run on a double by Isabella Russo.

TCNJ hardly threatened all afternoon, only twice getting to second base in the first six innings. Both were courtesy of Kaci Neveling, who finished 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and stole second base twice. One of the swipes came with one out in the sixth, but Miskey whiffed the next two batters to take that 1-0 lead into the seventh.

Up stepped Mayernik, who worked back from 0-2 down to a full count and pounced on a ball in the zone, sending it high over the fence in left field for her fourth dinger of the season.

The Lions looked poised to win in walk-off fashion after Jaclyn Carifi followed with a double, the only extra-base hits of the day, but the next three hitters all made outs and the junior was stranded on second.

With Schlee out of the game after taking a line drive off the knee in the fifth, Costello came on and did not allow a hit until the ninth. After TCNJ stranded Neveling on second in the eighth, the rookie walked the CWRU leadoff batter on four pitches to start the ninth. Following a sacrifice bunt and a groundout that put the runner on third, Russo sent a hard ground ball into the shortstop hole. Julia Kinnally made an incredible effort to snare it, but there was no chance of getting Russo at first and KaiLi Gross easily came home with the go-ahead run.

Kinnally kept TCNJ's hopes alive with a two-out walk, but Miskey's record 14^th strikeout ended it and sent the Spartans into the winner's round against Concordia.
Carifi went 2-for-4 to back Neveling, who reached base all four times.

Schlee surrendered just two hits in five frames, walking one and striking out four. Despite the loss, Costello conceded just one hit with two walks and a pair of strikeouts in her four full frames.

The Lions take on the nationally ranked Maroons at 2:30 p.m. back at Mather Park.