College Softball: TCNJ Sweeps Cabrini College
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Ewing, N.J. … The College of New Jersey softball team swept Cabrini College in a doubleheader this afternoon. The Lions took the first game in a 5-4 come from behind victory, and ran away with the second 15-1 in five innings. Sophomore Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Madison) delivered a walk-off base hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for the dramatic win in the opener.
Game 1: TCNJ 5, Cabrini 4
A two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh propelled the Lions to a 5-4 victory in the opener. Trailing 4-3 in the seventh, senior Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley) singled back through the box with one out to tie the game. After Jess Stevenson (Belmar, NJ/Red Bank Regional) lined to third for the second out, Levine stroked a single to right field to score Steph Vuono (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) and end the game.
It was a choppy game for TCNJ as walks and errors led to all four Cabrini runs. The Cavaliers pushed across a pair of unearned runs in the first without registering a hit. Lions' starter Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) had trouble locating and issued three free passes in the inning.
The Lions got a run back in the bottom of the frame. Freshman Gaby Bennett (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) singled through the middle to score Vuono, who had walked.
Cabrini tacked on two more unearned runs in the fourth. Kaitlyn Cooper ripped a run-scoring double to right-center to drive in one of the runs.
TCNJ trimmed the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Levine launched her third home run of the season to left-center.
Junior Colleen Phelan (Tinton Falls, NJ.Monmouth Regional) entered the game in the fifth and had an immediate impact. She singled to right and raced third on a double by Vuono. With Cathy Drury (Flanders, NJ/Mt. Olive) at the plate, Phelan drew a throw at third and then broke for home. She slid around the tag to bring the Lions with a run at 4-3.
Hourihan kept the Cavalier line-up scoreless in the fifth and sixth. She recorded an out in the seventh and finished the day scattering six hits, giving four unearned runs, and striking out eight. Freshman Sara Bielamowicz (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence) registered the final two out and earned her first collegiate win.
Levine and senior Kristen Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Levine also had two hits and two RBI.
Game 2: TCNJ 15, Cabrini 1
Cabrini got on the board in the top of the first inning to take the lead but the Lions responded with a run of their own when Bennett hit a RBI single to tie it up 1-1 going into the second.
Sam Platt (Cedar Grove, NJ/Mount Saint Dominic Academy) pitched a three up, three down second inning to keep it even.
Phelan pushed in two runs in the bottom of the second with a single to right field to give TCNJ the 3-1 advantage.
The Lions erupted for seven runs in the third inning, highlighted by two RBI double to right field by Utter.
TCNJ took advantage of shaky defense to tack on five more runs in the fourth on just three hits, led by Phelan with an RBI double to center.
Phelan had a big day, going 3-for-4 with three RBI's and Platt went all five innings for her seventh win of the season on the mound. She limited Cabrini to three hits and struck out six.
The Lions open New Jersey Athletic Conference play this Saturday when they host William Paterson University for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.