Boxscore
Glassboro, NJ – No. 2 seed Stockton University (31-11) stayed alive in the NJAC tournament with a 7-3 victory over No. 6 seed Kean University (20-22) in a losers bracket game. Stockton pounded out 15 hits, including at least one by all nine batters, to overcome an early deficit. The Ospreys advanced to face either Rutgers-Camden or The College of New Jersey tomorrow.
Holly Arentowicz (Roxbury/Roxbury) led the offensive attack by going 4-4 with two runs.
Alexa Massa (Moorestown/Moorestown) went 2-3 with two RBI while
Dominique Dorris (Mantua/Clearview) and
Samantha Shockey (Deptford/Deptford) added two hits apiece. Shockey set a new school record for hits in a season, bringing her total to 61 to top the previous mark of 59 by Joey Afflitto in 2009.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for Stockton as Kean's Dana Knapp blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to put the Ospreys behind 3-0. Stockton sprinted ahead with two runs apiece in the second, third and fourth innings.
Arentowicz led off the second with a single, moved to third on a double by Dorris and scored on an RBI single by Massa. Dorris then scored on a sacrifice fly by
Casey Schieda (Monroe Twp./Monroe Twp.) to get Stockton within 3-2.
Danielle Lugo (Vineland/Vineland) led off the third inning with a double and scored the tying run on an RBI single by Shockey. Three batters later, Massa delivered another RBI single to score Shockey with the go-ahead run at 4-3.
After a single in the fourth inning,
Chelsea Thomas (Barrington/Haddon Hts.) stole second in the back end of a double steal for her 32nd stolen base of the season, breaking the Stockton record of 31 by Heather Leach in 1997. Also on the play,
Gianna Cuffari (Cedar Grove/Cedar Grove) stole third and scored on an error. Lugo lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Thomas for a 6-3 advantage.
The Ospreys tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh. Arentowicz led off with her fourth hit of the game and moved up on a single by Dorris. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Massa, Schieda earned a RBI with a groundout that scored Arentowicz with the last tally in the 7-3 victory. The win was Stockton's first in an NJAC tournament game since 2010.
Shockey pitched a complete game and shut down the Cougars over the last six innings, allowing just one hit during that span to finish with a three-hitter and improve to 16-7 on the season. She retired the last 13 batters that she faced in 4.1 perfect innings to protect the lead.
Stockton will play the loser of today's matchup between No. 3 The College of New Jersey and No. 5 Rutgers-Camden in another elimination game tomorrow at 8 a.m. at Rowan University, the tournament host.