EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ softball team started off conference play in style on Sunday, sweeping Rutgers-Newark in the program's first home games of the spring.
The Lions (13-7, 2-0) did it the easy way and the hard way on a sunny afternoon at Dr. June Walker Field. They scored 10 runs in the first two innings of the opener, riding another shutout by
Maya Knasiak to a 10-0, 5-inning rout before rallying from a 3-2 deficit in the late innings of the nightcap. Knasiak played hero in that one as well, coming in to pitch scoreless sixth and seventh innings while plating the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the sixth.
Game 1: TCNJ 10, RU-Newark 0 (5)
The Lions put the opener to bed right away. After an out to begin the bottom of the first, eight straight batters reached base. Rookies
Emily Gill,
Emily Evans, and
Dani Biggio bounced consecutive run-scoring singles through small holes in the infield, and a two-run single by
Morgan Estelow with two outs stretched the lead out to 7-0.
Evans had another RBI single in the second, as did Jules Fuch and
Morgan Leonhauser, as TCNJ plated three more to expand its advantage to 10-0.
Knasiak allowed her first base-runner on a bloop single in the third, but the Scarlet Raiders never got a runner past first. She surrendered two hits without a walk, striking out six.
STANDOUT LIONS
- Knasiak (W): 5 IP, 2 H, 6 K
- Evans: 2/2, 2 RBI, 1 R
- Leonhauser: 2/2, 2 R, 1 RBI
- Estelow: 2/4, 2 RBI, 1 R
- Gill: 2/3, 1 RBI, 1 R
- Grace Brouillard: 1/2, 2 R
Game 2: TCNJ 4, Rutgers-Newark 3
The Lions had to earn the sweep. The blue and gold scored single runs in each of the first two innings, Brouillard opening the scoring with an RBI groundout in the first and
Gianna Vazquez doubling the lead with a run-scoring single in the second.
Newark, however, got one back in the third and took the lead on a two-run, two-out single in the fifth, putting TCNJ in a 3-2 hole. They took advantage of some wildness by Scarlet Raiders starter Michaela Hobson, who walked the bases loaded with one out before
Taylor Menzel dropped an RBI single into shallow right field to tie the game.
Knasiak pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, then came up in a crucial spot in the bottom half as Estelow reached on an error and moved up to third after a pair of wild pitches. With the go-ahead run at third, Knasiak roped a short-hop single off the glove of the Newark shortstop, plating Estelow with the eventual winning run.
Knasiak then induced three consecutive groundouts to wrap up the game and her second win of the day.
STANDOUT LIONS
- Menzel: 1/1, RBI
- Knasiak: 1/1, RBI, 2 IP, W
- Estelow: 1/3, 2 R
- Vazquez: 1/3, RBI
UP NEXT
- The Lions host the other Rutgers school, Rutgers-Camden, on Tuesday
