NJCU Softball team faced Curry College and Nazareth College on March 14 for the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. Both games were fast moving and filled with a lot of energy from the beginning to the end.

GAME 1: NJCU VS Curry College

At the top of the first, the Gothic Knights collected only one hit. The team had two players left on base, Hannah Gavin at third and Laura Ford at first. As the game moved into the bottom of first, Christina Mezey struck out the first Curry player of the game.

Miesha Bacon deposited her first career base hit at the top of the second when she singled to second base. The Gothic Knights remained scoreless until the fourth.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, Mezey’s mission was to retire as many Curry batters as she could while on the mound. At the end of third, Curry had zero hits or runs.

At the top of fourth, Bacon fired the ball down the right field line and she advanced to first base. That was also her second base hit.

The Gothic Knights were back on defense and bases continued to stay loaded throughout the fourth. The team collected two throwing errors. The first error was made by Dulce Almonte who mistakenly threw the ball too high for Bacon to reach. That prompted a fielder’s choice and all Curry base runners were safe. The second error was made by Mezey. She was faced with a sacrifice bunt from a Curry batter and the bunt was the first hit that was given up by Mezey. She did her best to limit the number of opposing base runners however Curry went on to drive in 6 runs. Curry held a 6-0 lead in the fourth.

Mezey pitched for six innings, allowed five runs, two walks and struck out 4 batters.

The team produced two doubles in the beginning of the fifth. One by Montes and the other by Mezey. Bacon was next up and she grounded out which allowed Mezey drive in the first run for NJCU. A runner on first and third base, Gavin lined out to third base which allowed Arianna Scrimo to advance and Maria Montes to score. Almonte unleashed a RBI single up the middle near second base. After an error from Curry, Gavin advanced to third on an error prompting Scrimo to score a run. By the end of the inning, NJCU scored three runs on five hits and Curry held a 6-1 lead.  

In the seventh, the team had one last chance to score a few more runs. After Mezey grounded out, the team had one more out left however Montes struck out which ended the game. Curry College took the lead and won 6-3. 

GAME 2: NJCU VS. Nazareth College

Going into the second game of the day, the Gothic Knights were searching for another win. In the first inning, the team had one hit. Laura Ford earned a walk from the pitcher. Hannah Gavin singled which allowed Ford to advance. Due to an error (fielder’s choice) on Nazareth, Emma Herrick was able to advance to first base while Gavin advanced to second. Unfortunately, Ford was out at third base.

With an awaiting Gisselle Vigil at third, Ariana Scrimo singled to center which allow drive in the first run for NJCU at the top of second. In the bottom of the second, Nazareth responded to NJCU’s first run and deposited a double to tie the game and later hold a 2-1 lead.

The energy throughout the game was heighten when Gavin started the third inning with an incredible homerun that went over the left field fence. Gavin’s homer tied the game 2-2.

By the bottom of the fourth, Nazareth brought in two unearned runs. One opposing batter was granted a fielder’s choice while the other was granted an error from Amber Hunter. NJCU trailed 4-2 by the end of the inning. Hunter pitched all six innings. She allowed four runs, two walks and struck out 3 batters.

The Gothic Knights were in danger of losing another game for the ninth time if they did not collect enough runs to win as they entered the top of the seventh. With only one out left for NJCU, Maia Tejeda grounded out to the pitcher however that was not enough for her to touch first base. Nazareth won the game 4-2.

Stay tuned here and on NJCU Gothic Knights for more information about NJCU Athletics.