GALLOWAY, N.J. – Led by a pair of pitching gems that included a one-hitter from freshman Maya Knasiak, the TCNJ softball team split two tightly-contested road games against Stockton on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions (15-7, 2-4 NJAC) lost a pitcher's duel in game one of the doubleheader, 2-1, despite yet another terrific start in the circle from sophomore Elizabeth Gosse. The sophomore struck out seven Ospreys (12-8, 5-1 NJAC) batters in six innings while allowing just one earned run off seven hits.

Game two saw the pitching once again dominate on both sides, with TCNJ's Knasiak and Ospreys' Mia Barone giving up five combined hits for zero earned runs. Despite that, the Lions' batters struck first early and capitalized on a Stockton throwing error late to pull off the road split, 3-0.

After allowing a one-out single in the bottom of the first, Knasiak proceeded to no-hit the final 20 of 21 Stockton batters, with the lone baserunner being on a walk in the third.

GAME ONE (STOCKTON 2, TCNJ 1)

• The Ospreys scored first in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run homer to left centerfield with a baserunner on first and no outs.
• Senior Julia Mayernik quickly slashed the Lions' deficit in half while leading off the top of the fourth after launching her third dinger of the season to deep left field. The home run gave her the sole lead on the team.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Stockton's offense looked to add on insurance runs with two outs and runners at the corners, but was shut down by Gosse on a swinging strike out for her final punchout on the day.
• The Lions offense attempted to score the tying run in the top of the seventh, but ultimately went just three up, three down against Ospreys' ace Nerina Tramp, who finished with 11 total strikeouts in game one.

GAME TWO (TCNJ 3, STOCKTON 0)

• TCNJ took the lead first in game two in the top of the first inning on a Julia Kinnally RBI single to the pitcher that scored Kaci Neveling from third. Neveling led off the game with a single to centerfield, before reaching second on sophomore Gianna Vazquez's at bat and then proceeding to steal third.
• In the sixth, the Lions added on a pair of insurance runs on a critical throwing error by Stockton's short stop. With two outs and Vazquez and Kinnally both in scoring possession, freshman Taylor Freudenberg's grounded a pitch to the Ospreys shortstop, who overthrew the ball too high to first to allow both TCNJ runners to score.  
• In the circle, Knasiak sent the Osprey hitters to a quick three up, three down in five of her seven innings pitched, including the last four consecutive frames.

STANDOUT LIONS

• Kinnally hit 3-for-6 with an RBI and a stolen base throughout both games.
• Neveling had a two-hit performance and stole a base in game two.

TCNJ TEAM BREAKDOWN

• Game one: TCNJ finished with four total hits and one walk.
• Game two: The Lions offense recorded four hits and stole three bases

UP NEXT
The Lions are back home at Dr. June Walker Field on Tuesday to host Rutgers-Camden for a doubleheader starting at 2:30 PM.