By Lyle Fulton
Clermont, FL… The College of New Jersey softball team extended its winning streak to five straight on Wednesday as the Lions took a doubleheader from Ripon College. TCNJ claimed the opener by the score of 3-1 and then pulled out a 3-2 victory in eight innings to complete the sweep.
The pair of wins puts the Lions above the .500 mark for the first time this season as they are 5-3.
After an off day, the Lions return to the diamond on Friday taking on Penn State Behrend at 9:30 a.m. and then Westfield State College at 11:30 a.m.
TCNJ 3, Ripon College 1 (Game 1)
Backed by a strong outing from sophomore pitcher Ashley Minervini (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park), the Lions used a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning to break a 1-1 tie and win their fourth straight game. Minervini fired a two-hitter with five strikeouts to even her personal record at 2-2 on the season.
TCNJ opened the scoring in the first as Christina Lizzi (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) reached on an error and later scored on a single by sophomore Danielle Hagel (Egg Harbor City, NJ/Oakcrest).
After the Red Hawks scored an unearned run the second, the Lions plated the winning run in the bottom of the third. Sophomore Ellen Seavers (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) started the rally with a double and scored on a ground out by Colleen Cawley (Riverton, NJ/Holy Cross) knotting the score at two runs apiece. Lizzi kept the inning going with a double and again scored on a base hit by Hagel.
Hagel went 2-for-3 for the Lions with two RBI, while Lizzi scored twice.
TCNJ 3, Ripon College 2 – 8 innings (Game 2)
The Lions struck early in the second game as junior Alaine Boccafola (Wading River, NY/Shoreman Wading River) singled home sophomore Rachel Greeby (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) and freshman Kathy Sikora (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) made it 2-0 later in the inning as she scored on an error.
Ripon pulled even with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but the Lions were able to pull out the win in the eighth. With each team starting with a runner on second base in extra innings, TCNJ quickly took advantage as Cawley raced home on a sacrifice fly by Hagel.
Minervini pitched 2-1/3 innings in relief to get her second win of the day. Freshman Jamie Moir (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) gave the Lions a quality start getting into the sixth inning and finishing with a career-high 12 strikeouts.
Seavers continued her hot streak at the plate going 2-for-4 and extended her hitting streak to five games and she has also hit safely in six of the seven games she has played this season.
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