EWING, N.J. – Julia Mayernik's walk-off two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning propelled the TCNJ softball team past Rowan, 3-2, in the opener of Tuesday's eventual NJAC split.
 
The Lions snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Game 1, allowing Rowan to take the lead on a two-run error with two outs in the seventh before going down to their last out in the bottom half.
 
The Profs evened the series with a 10-0 victory in five innings in the nightcap.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• TCNJ is now 19-9 overall and 6-6 in the NJAC, while Rowan is 25-7 overall and 10-2 in league play

GAME 1: TCNJ 3, Rowan 2

• Both teams stranded two runners in the first inning
• Julia Kinnally nearly staked the Lions to a big lead in the third, but her well-struck fly ball with two on and two out was tracked down by McKenzie Melvin at the wall in dead center to end the inning
• Camryn Kitchin broke the deadlock with two outs in the fourth, blasting a home run well over the fence in straightaway center for her second round-tripper of the year and a 1-0 lead
• Elizabeth Gosse continued to roll, retiring the side on five pitches in the fifth and 11 pitches in the sixth
• After her near-homer in the third, Kinnally led off the sixth with a ringing double off the wall in left. After a well-executed sacrifice by Sara Vincent moved her to third, Kinnally was called out at the plate on a throw from the second baseman to cut down a would-be insurance run
• That play proved critical in the seventh, when Rowan put two runners on and both came around to score as Abigail Pawloswki's hard-hit liner bounced off the glove of a hard-charging TCNJ outfielder. Instead of the game-clinching out, the Profs took the lead on the play
• Gianna Vazquez took a pitch off the hip with one out in the seventh, and Kaci Neveling drew a walk to put the tying run into scoring position. After a strikeout, Mayernik launched a high fly ball to left that bounced off the wall and allowed both runners to come home for the walk-off

GAME 2: Rowan 10, TCNJ 0 (5)

• Rowan scored an unearned run in the top of the first as an errant throw to second on a steal attempt allowed the runner on third to score
• The Profs tacked on two more in the fourth on an RBI double from Shukaitis and a second TCNJ error, but Maya Knasiak stranded runners on second and third with one out to keep the Lions within shouting distance
• Rowan scored seven runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach

STANDOUT LIONS

• Gosse was a well-deserved winner in the opener. The left-hander allowed just three hits – two of them in the seventh – and one walk and was not charged with an earned run. She threw just 95 pitches
• Kinnally went 2-for-3 with a double in the opener

 NOTES

• Gosse surpassed 200 career innings with her complete game
• Knasiak extended her streak of innings without conceding an earned run to 24 before the Profs tagged her with one in the fourth

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to New Jersey City for a doubleheader on Saturday