After leading the Lions to the No. 8 ranking in Division III, head coach Sally Miller collected the 400th win of her career on Saturday April 10, as the College swept the double header against Rutgers University-Newark, increasing its record to 20-4 this season. After a 2-1 loss to Haverford College on Thursday April 8, the Lions came back to beat the Fords in the second game 5-0, which helped lead to the team’s two wins against the Scarlet Raiders.
The team traveled to Haverford College to take on the Fords, which resulted in a split doubleheader, bringing the Lions’ seven-game winning streak to an end. Once the team was ranked No. 8 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the Lions began to feel the pressure of teams like Haverford.
“Now that we are ranked every team is coming for us,” junior outfield Colleen Cawley said. “The loss against Haverford is the reason we are trying to stay away from looking at the numbers. The statistics are not at all important to us right now.”
The Fords scored the two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lions were on the board with a run in the first as sophomore outfielder Crystal Lee crossed the plate off of a ground out by freshman infielder Kelly Hommen. Lee finished with three stolen bases.
“We are taking this as a learning opportunity. We don’t plan on letting things like that happen again,” Cawley said.
In game two, the Lions came back hard, scoring early as Hommen scored off an RBI from senior infielder Ellen Seavers. The score was 5-0 by
the seventh as freshman infielder Ashley Sogluizzo singled in Lee for the final run of the game. Sophomore pitcher Lauren Fitzsimmons gathered her 10th win of the season, throwing a complete shutout against the Fords.
On Saturday, the Scarlet Raiders put up a fight, keeping the score close in both games against the Lions. Lee started it off in the first game, scoring the only run in the first inning after tripling and racing home off of a sacrifice fly by Hommen. Senior pitcher Ashley Minervini threw a one-hitter, collecting nine strikeouts for the 1-0 win.
Game two took the Lions into eight innings for the 4-3 win. Seavers scored the first run in the second after tripling and crossing the plate off of a bunt by senior outfielder Danielle Hagel. The Lions increased the score in the third as sophomore outfielder Rebecca Florczyk and Lee both scored, giving the team a 3-0 lead.
The Scarlet Raiders tied it in the seventh though, as freshman outfielder Nicole Odell tripled with the bases loaded, sending the game into an extra inning win for the Lions. Fitzsimmons recorded 12 strikeouts in her team-leading 11th win of the season.
The Lions take on William Paterson University at 1 p.m. on Saturday April 17 at Lions’ Park.
Hilarey Wojtowicz can be reached at wojtowi3@tcnj.edu.
