SALISBURY, Md. - The TCNJ softball team split its opening day games against a pair of ranked opponents Saturday afternoon, falling 4-2 to 25th-ranked Swarthmore in its season opener before bouncing back with a 3-0 win over 18th-ranked Salisbury.
 
GAME 1: #25 Swarthmore 4, TCNJ 2
 
There was little to separate the sides in what quickly turned into a pitcher's duel in the Lions' (1-1) opener. With both teams having combined for just three hits through the top of the fourth, it was TCNJ finally breaking open the scoring in the home half of the inning.
 
Emily Evans led off with a single to the gap in left to register her first collegiate hit, with Gianna Vazquez also finding a hole on the left side of the field to put two on with one out. A fielder's choice on a groundout off the bat of Maya Knasiak put runners on the corners, setting up Grace Brouillard to bunt one run in before Amelia Santos hit an RBI single to left to give TCNJ a 2-0 lead.
 
Knasiak had held her own in the circle to that point, holding the 25th-ranked Garnet (1-1) to two hits, but it took just four at-bats for Swarthmore to level the game on a pair of RBI base knocks in the top of the fifth.

The Lions' Emily Gill – also making her collegiate debut in the circle – and the Garnet's Lilly Goldberg kept things quiet in the sixth, but it was Swarthmore tacking on two runs in the top of the seventh before TCNJ went down in order in the home half to hand the Lions the 4-2 loss.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Knasiak: 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Ks

GAME 2: TCNJ 3, #18 Salisbury 0
 
TCNJ rebounded quickly from their season-opening loss, riding their veterans to a 3-0, shutout win over 18th-ranked Salisbury. Elizabeth Gosse was in midseason form in the circle, striking out three in a complete game shutout while Camryn Kitchin accounted for two of the Lions' three RBIs at the plate.
 
Unlike Saturday's first game, TCNJ threatened with a runner in scoring position in each of the opening two innings, but were unable to get them across home plate. The Sea Gulls (1-1) responded with a chance of their own in the home half of the second, getting their first two runners on base before Gosse forced three straight grounders to keep the game scoreless.
 
It wasn't until the fourth inning that the Lions once again struck first, using consecutive singles from Amelia Santos and Morgan Leonhauser to lead off the frame, with a fielding error on Leonhauser's single to center scoring Santos to give TCNJ a 1-0 lead.
 
Gosse continued to mow down Salisbury batters, allowing a lone hit in both the fourth and fifth innings before the Lions got a pair of insurance runs off the bat of Kitchin. Jessica Sclafani started the rally with a pinch-hit double to left center, followed by Leonhauser taking one off her body to put two on with one out. Jules Fuchs moved the runners with a groundout to first, setting up Kitching to rope a two-RBI single to center and push TCNJ's lead to three. The Lions threatened for more, with a walk drawn by Evans loading the bases, but Vazquez went down swinging to keep the Sea Gulls within striking distance.
 
Salisbury turned that chance into a pair of base runners across the sixth and seventh frames, but Gosse was there to shut them down once again, with her third and final strikeout of the afternoon securing the complete game shutout and TCNJ its first win of 2026.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Gosse (1-0): 7.0 IP, 0 R, 3 Ks
• Kitchin: 2-3, 2 RBIs
• Brouillard: 2-4, 1 2B

UP NEXT

• The Lions will run back this afternoon's games tomorrow, facing off against Swarthmore at 10:30 a.m. before taking on Salisbury at 12:30 p.m.