RALEIGH, N.C. - The TCNJ softball team wrapped up its time in the Grand Slam Triangle Softball Classic Saturday afternoon, dropping a pair of back-and-forth against Marymount and William Peace.
 
GAME 1: Marymount 5, TCNJ 3
 
After failing to convert with two runners on and no outs in the first inning of Saturday's opener, it was the Lions (3-5) opening the scoring in the second after Maya Knasiak led off the frame with a double to center field. The junior was replaced by Brooke Hamaty on the bags, with the freshman immediately paying off the decision by stealing third before capitalizing on a Saints (3-4) error to score the game's opening run.
 
Knasiak – fresh off a game in which she struck out a career-best 13 batters in the circle – further showed her prowess as a two-way player in the fourth inning, following up her second-inning double with a solo shot to double TCNJ's lead just over halfway through the game.
 
Marymount turned the tide with a three-run fifth inning to take its first lead of the game, but there to respond in the home half was Dani Biggio, who hit an RBI single through the left side to score pinch runner Julia Wallace and level things once again at 3-3.
 
A quiet sixth inning set the table for a decisive seventh in which the Saints scored two to jump back in front, with the Lions unable to rally in the home half en route to the 5-3 loss.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Emily Gill: 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Ks
• Knasiak: 3-3, 2 XBH, 1 RBI
• Biggio: 3-4, 1 RBI

GAME 2: William Peace 6, TCNJ 3
 
The Lions were first on the board once again in Saturday's finale, with an error scoring Gianna Vazquez before Morgan Leonhauser hit an RBI double to score Biggio and give TCNJ a 2-0 lead after one.
 
Vazquez added an RBI of her own in the second with a single to center field that scored Jessica Sclafani and extended the Lions's lead to 3-0, but it was the Pacers (2-2) scoring six unanswered over the next two innings to take a 6-3 lead that would hold the rest of the way.
 
TCNJ tried to mount a comeback in the fifth inning after Vazquez and Biggio led off the frame with back-to-back singles, but a groundout back to the pitcher after both runners had moved into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt quickly ended the threat.
 
Elizabeth Gosse did her best out of the bullpen to keep the Lions within striking distance – the senior allowed just one hit in 3.2 innings of relief – but TCNJ could only muster a lone hit of their own in the sixth and seventh innings en route to the 6-3 setback.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Vazquez: 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 R
• Leonhauser: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
• Gosse: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 3 Ks

UP NEXT

• The Lions will head south to compete in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic from March 13 - March 20. TCNJ will open the classic with a doubleheader against Albion and Penn College set to start at 11 a.m.