NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The TCNJ softball team picked up a big 9-1 mercy-rule win over Missisippi University for Women in its first game on Tuesday before dropping a thrilling extra-inning game to UMass Boston. The Beacons won that game, 2-1, in nine innings.
Game One: TCNJ 9, MUW 1 (5 innings)
The Lions got their second mercy rule win of the week in North Myrtle Beach with a 9-1 win over the Owls. The Lions pounded out 15 hits in five innings, batting .577 as a team for the game.
McKayla Yard hit a two-run homer in the first inning to score Kaci Neveling. Also in the first inning, Camryn Kitchin hit a sacrifice fly to score Julia Mayernik to make it 3-0. In the second inning, Julia Kinnally had a sacrifice fly in the second inning, and Mayernik also had a run-scoring single to plate Neveling for the second time in two innings.
Kinnally had an RBI single in the fourth inning to make it 6-0, and the Lions scored three times in the fifth inning to invoke the mercy rule. Gianna Frino singled home Kitchin, Morgan Estelow singled home Sara Vincent, and Kinnally singled home Frino to make it a 9-1 victory.
Vincent went 3-for-3 to lead the Lions' offensive attack. Five Lions had two hits apiece. Kinnally had three RBIs to pace the run production.
Gillian Roberts earned the victory with five innings of three-hit pitching, inducing weak contact in the air for 10 of her 15 outs.
Game Two: UMass Boston 2, TCNJ 1 (9 innings)
The Lions's second game of the day switched to a pitchers' duel. The Lions' Maya Knasiak and the Beacons' Bri Melchionda each brought their A-games. Knasiak went the first four innings for the Lions, allowing just one hit while striking out four and walking none. Melchionda went the distance for UMass Boston, allowing just two hits and fanning nine in nine innings.
Elizabeth Gosse came in relief for the Lions in the fifth inning, and she allowed just the two tiebreaker runs in each of the extra innings, allowing just four hits with three strikeouts.
Kinnally made a sparkler in the field in the fourth inning. A shallow fly hit to left center looked as though it may fall in for a hit with a runner already on first, but she made a great running grab with her back to the infield to end the inning.
Boston led off the sixth inning with a double, and an infield hit looked to put runners at the corners, but a late break to third from the runner at second allowed Gosse to throw to Kinnally to retire that lead runner. The Lions had two runners on base in the sixth, but they couldn't get a two-out hit to break the deadlock.
The teams traded the ghost runners coming home in the eighth inning, and Boston put its across in the top of the ninth. In the bottom half, however, the Lions were unable to move the runner over and in to continue the epic contest.
The Lions wrap up the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic on Wednesday with two games. TCNJ plays Brevard at 9 a.m. and Keystone at 1 p.m.
