GLASSBORO, N.J. - The TCNJ softball team left it all on the field in Game 3 of its NJAC Championship series against Rowan Sunday afternoon, but despite outhitting the hosts 9-6, the Lions saw their season come to a close with an 8-4 loss to the 17th-ranked Profs.
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Defensive miscues started the game off on the wrong foot for TCNJ (26-15), which committed three of their season-high six errors in the opening inning. Those defensive lapses, paired with another tight zone that perplexed both
Elizabeth Gosse and
Maya Knasiak early on, allowed the Profs to score seven runs in the first – more than the Lions had allowed in an entire game since April 14.
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Knasiak settled in in the circle following the first inning, holding Rowan without a hit through the next three frames before TCNJ made its attempt at a comeback in the home half of the fourth.
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Morgan Estelow led the inning off with a single to right – the senior's second hit in as many at-bats – before consecutive base knocks from
Morgan Leonhauser and Knasiak loaded the bases with no outs.
Camryn Kitchin was next to the plate and kept the Lions' single streak alive, hitting one to left field to score Estelow for TCNJ's first run of the game. RBIs on three of the next four at-bats by
Grace Brouillard,
Emily Evans and
Dani Biggio would trim the Prof's lead to three at 7-4 with runners still on the corners, but on the next at-bat it was
Olivia Santos getting called for leaving the box early on what would have been another RBI single, abruptly ending the inning.
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That was as close as the Lions would get the rest of the way, with the game's only other run belonging to the Profs en route to the 8-4 loss.
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TCNJ concludes its 2026 campaign with a record of 26-15 – including a 12-6 mark in conference play – and the program's first trip to the NJAC Championship since 2023.
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STANDOUT LIONS
- Knasiak: 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Ks
- Estelow: 3-4, 1 R, 1 3B
