RALEIGH, N.C. - The TCNJ softball team wrapped up the Triangle Collegiate Classic with a pair of ranked games Saturday afternoon, falling 8-5 to 15th-ranked Berry before suffering a sweep on the day with a 8-2 loss against sixth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan.
 
GAME 1: #15 Berry 8, TCNJ 5
 
The Lions (2-4) found themselves on the back foot in Saturday's opener, giving up three runs in the second and five in the third to fall behind 8-0 early. After being held to just one hit through the first four frames, TCNJ finally broke the scoreless stretch in the bottom of the fifth off the bat of Kaci Neveling.
 
Mckayla Yard started the rally with a single through the right side before a Rachel Alecci walk and Taylor Freudenberg single loaded the bases with two outs. The graduate student was next at the plate, hitting the ball back up the middle to score Jules Fuchs – the freshman had come in to pinch run for Yard. That was all the Lions could muster in the inning, however, before Ryleigh Manning went down swinging to end the frame.
 
After Sara Llano made quick work of the Vikings (11-2) in the top of the sixth, the Lions struck again in the bottom half of the inning, this time via TCNJ's first long ball of the season.
 
Julia Kinnally opened the inning with a single to right before Maya Knasiak hit a one-bagger of her own to put two on with no outs. The Lions' next two batters were retired, but stepping up to the plate was Sara Vincent, who roped one to left field to make it an 8-4 game.
 
Knasiak converted again with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to trim the lead to three at 8-5, but that was as close as TCNJ would get in the Game 1 loss. Elizabeth Gosse takes the loss after allowing five runs in two innings, while Berry's Hannah Gore tossed five innings to earn her fifth win of the year.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Neveling and Knasiak both registered two hits on the day.
• Vincent finished with a team-high three RBIs with her second career home run.
• Llano allowed just three runs in a season-high five innings of relief.

GAME 2: #6 Virginia Wesleyan 8, TCNJ 2
 
After a quiet first two innings to start Saturday's finale, it was the sixth-ranked Marlins (7-0) breaking the tie with a three-run bottom of the third to jump in front. Nearly leveling the game a half-inning later were the Lions, however, who got solo homers from Neveling and Kinnally to cut the lead to just one at 3-2.
 
Virginia Wesleyan threatened in the bottom of the inning, but Knasiak did well to keep runs off the board before the Marlins finally pulled away by tacking on five runs across the fifth and sixth innings. TCNJ went down in order in the top of the seventh, resulting in the 8-2 loss.
 
Knasiak suffers her first setback of the season after allowing six runs in five innings, while Virginia Wesleyan's Lauren Bible allowed just the two runs across four innings for her fourth win on the year.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Neveling went 1-3 with a homer in the loss. The graduate student has registered at least one hit in five of the Lions' first six games to start the season.
• Kinnally's home run is the 11th of her career and gives the graduate student a three-game hitting streak heading into next week.

UP NEXT

• The Lions are back on the road Wednesday, March 12 to take on Neumann, with first pitch of the doubleheader set for 2 p.m.