By Malcolm Luck
Staff Writer
After winning 13 straight games, including 10 consecutive conference victories, the softball team looks poised to make a deep playoff run in its 2019 season.
Most recently, the Lions dominated the University of Rutgers-Camden and Montclair State University in a pair of doubleheaders, holding their opponents to no runs over the course of the four games. This marks the team’s fifth consecutive shutout for the College’s dominating pitching staff, which was anchored by sophomore starting pitchers Eliza Sweet and Alanna Namit.
The doubleheader against Rutgers-Camden was held on April 10 following postponement due to rain just one day prior. In the first match, Sweet tossed another complete game shutout in a game where the Lions’ offense was relatively stagnant.
The team’s first runs weren’t posted until the bottom of the third inning. Senior catcher Jess McGuire scored junior infielder Megan Mayernik with an RBI single up the middle. Just one inning later, senior outfielder Gaby Bennett crossed home plate as an insurance run to extend the lead to 2-0. This would prove to be the final score as the Lions captured the first of two games.
In the second match, a two-run single from sophomore infielder Elyse Nardozza in the bottom of the fourth was more than enough support for Namit. Namit allowed just two hits in her complete game shutout, sending Rutgers-Camden back home with just five hits over its two games against the College.
Montclair State couldn’t find an answer for the dynamic duo of Sweet and Namit in its doubleheader against the Lions on Saturday, April 13 either.
The Lions struck early in the first game, scoring their first run off the bat of sophomore infielder Lauren Conroy. Her RBI double in the first inning set the table for McGuire’s two-run homerun one batter later. Before Sweet took the mound for the first time, she found herself on the right side of a 3-0 score.
Insurance runs were added in the fifth and sixth innings, but Sweet was locked in, as she allowed just four hits over seven innings and struck out five. She improved her record to 10-2 on the season, as the Lions won by the final score of 5-0.
Namit followed with a gem of her own, tossing another complete game shutout while striking out eight.
The bulk of the offense came in the fifth inning to provide some late support for the team’s starting pitcher. A two-out rally was ignited with back-to-back singles from Mayernik and sophomore outfielder Katie Winchock.
Conroy ripped a two-run triple to center field to bring them home followed by an RBI single to right center field from McGuire to score the fourth run of the game — 4-0 was the final score, marking the 13th consecutive victory for the Lions.
Next up for the team is a road matchup against the New Jersey Athletic Conference’s basement dweller New Jersey City University on Saturday, April 20.
