GLASSBORO, N.J. – A dominant pitching display led the TCNJ Softball team to a 4-0 shutout victory over No. 16 Rowan in the NJAC third round on Friday.
The Lions (28-9) offense struck early to support a dominant combined outing from pitchers
Elizabeth Gosse and
Ally Schlee, which kept the Profs (36-5) off the board all game. The victory extended the blue and gold's win streak to 13 games and sends TCNJ into the Conference Championship game on Saturday.
Striking first in the top of the third, TCNJ's first two runs of the day were both driven in on a deep flyout by
Julia Mayernik, which allowed seniors
Kaci Neveling and
Jaclyn Carifi to both tag up and score. Remarkably, Carifi flashed her speed on the bases by successfully tagging all the way from second.
An inning later, with two outs and
Ashley O'Hagan on second,
Camryn Davies drove in the third run of the game for TCNJ on a hard dropping single in shallow center field.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, the Lions turned to senior ace
Ally Schlee out of the bullpen to record the final five outs of the match. Stepping off the mound, Gosse ended her stellar day having pitched an excellent 5.1 shutout Innings and striking out three Profs batters.
Schlee would quickly close out the sixth after forcing a groundout to Davies at second and a line out to Carifi in deep centerfield.
TCNJ added on an insurance run in the top of the seventh. With Neveling on third, the senior was able to reach home plate on a groundout from junior
Julia Kinnally. The Lions led 4-0 entering the bottom half.
In the bottom of the seventh, after forcing a groundout for the first out and a flyout for the second, Schlee officially punched the Lions' ticket into the Championship game with a strikeout of Rowan's final batter.
On the mound, the freshman earned the 13th win of her freshman campaign, while Schlee recorded her first save of the year and the fourth of her career.
UP NEXT
The Lions will be back tomorrow in Glassboro for the NJAC Championship game. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
