NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The TCNJ softball team capped off a successful southern sojourn with a pair of mercy-rule shutout wins at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic on Wednesday.
 
The Lions routed Brevard, 11-0, in five innings in the morning before scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth to polish off an 8-0 defeat of Keystone, finishing their trip to South Carolina with a 6-1 record.
 
Julia Roessler and Gillian Roberts each tossed a two-hit shutout for TCNJ, which racked up 27 hits in its 11 team at-bats.
 
Game One: TCNJ 11, Brevard 0 (5 Innings)
TCNJ earned its third mercy-rule victory of the week with an 11-0 blanking of Brevard on Wednesday morning. The Lions had 14 hits, and 10 different players had at least one hit. Mckayla Yard led the way with a 3-for-4 performance, scoring three runs. Julia Kinnally and Morgan Estelow each had two hits.

The Lions scored in all five of their at-bats, and they got off to a fast start in the first. Kaci Neveling led off with a double, and after she stole third, Yard tripled her home. Kinnally followed with a single to chase home Yard, and the Lions led, 2-0, after three hitters.

Estelow led off the second with a single, and she came around to score on Gianna Frino's double to center. That made it 3-0. Estelow made it 5-0 in the third inning with a two-run triple to right to score both Taylor Freudenberg and Julia Mayernik.

Freudenberg brought home Yard with an infield single in the fourth to make it 6-0, and Gianna Vazquez followed with an RBI single to plate Kinnally. Freudenberg and Vazquez each scored later in the inning on a wild pitch and a passed ball, respectively.

Already in mercy-rule territory in the fifth, Maya Knasiak had a two-run, pinch-hit single to push the TCNJ advantage to 11-0.

Julia Roessler pitched all five innings for TCNJ, allowing just two hits and no walks in earning her second victory of the season. 

Game Two: TCNJ 8, Keystone 0 (6 Innings)
For the second time Wednesday, the Lions struck in their first at-bat. Neveling led off with a single and stole second before going to third on a one-out single by Kinnally and scoring when the left fielder's throw sailed past its intended target. Gillian Roberts worked out of a jam in the top half of the second, getting a strikeout and a pop-out to strand runners on second and third.

Still leading by a single run, the Lions broke it open with a three-run fifth. Kinnally doubled with one out and scored on an RBI single by Mayernik, who scored on Rachel Alecci's double. Alecci later came home on a fielder's choice.

TCNJ tacked on four more in the sixth, as Neveling took home on a successful double steal with Yard. Pinch-runner Taylor Freudenberg managed to score on Mayernik's grounder to the shortstop, whose throw to first was off-target for a third Keystone error. Sara Vincent's RBI single made it 7-0 and, after consecutive walks loaded the bases, Knasiak's fielder's choice grounder brought home Vincent with the clinching run.

Roberts conceded just two hits and a walk across her six frames, striking out a pair. After allowing the first two Keystone batters to reach in the second, she retired 15 in a row.

STANDOUT LIONS (STATS ARE FOR BOTH GAMES)

• Estelow: 5-for-5, two RBI, one run (reached base seven plate appearances)
• Kinnally: 4-for-7, two runs, one RBI
• Neveling: 3-for-7, four runs, four stolen bases
• Yard: 4-for-8, three runs, one RBI
• Alecci: 3-for-6, one RBI, one run

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Salisbury for the Margie Knight Tournament, which gets underway Friday with a doubleheader against Lynchburg. TCNJ will face Carnegie Mellon and the host Sea Gulls on Saturday