Ramapo box /
Kean box
Union, NJ – No. 5 seed Stockton University (24-20-1) finished as the NJAC Tournament runner-up for just the second time in school history (2010, 2017) after splitting two games on the final day.
The Ospreys stayed alive by nipping #13 Ramapo (29-9) 7-6 on a walk-off walk for their third straight win in an elimination game. They rallied from a 4-0 deficit to knock out their third team in two days, including two ranked opponents (#24 William Paterson, #13 Ramapo).
Stockton's inspired run ended as the Ospreys fell 5-2 to No. 3 seed Kean University (33-7), which rolled through the tournament undefeated to claim the NJAC championship. Stockton needed to defeat the Cougars twice to win its first conference title but ran out of steam in the championship round.
Against Ramapo,
Ashley Lobell (Cedar Knolls/Whippany Park) went 2-3 with two runs plus a walk and RBI that decided the game.
Holly Arentowicz (Roxbury/Roxbury) was 1-3 with a run and an RBI.
Hannah Bibeault (Hopatcong/Hopatcong) earned an unorthodox win, starting and pitching the first three innings, leaving for reliever
Victoria Torp (West Milford/West Milford) but then re-entering in the top of the seventh.
Ramapo scored four runs on three hits and two errors in the top of the third. Stockton quickly halved its deficit to 4-2 with two runs in the bottom half.
Casey Schieda (Monroe Twp./Monroe Twp.) scored an unearned run and Arentowicz added an RBI single.
Lobell led off the fourth with a single and later scored on a hit by Schieda to get Stockton within 4-3. Ramapo made it 6-3 with two runs on two hits and two walks in the sixth frame. The Ospreys manufactured two runs in the bottom of the sixth to close within 6-5. After singling, Lobell scored on an error.
Morgan DiVello (Atco/Hammonton) came home on a passed ball to make it a one-run game.
After Bibeault retired the Roadrunners in order, Stockton made the most of its last chance.
Carli Shaw (Bordentown/Bordentown) and Arentowicz sandwiched walks around a single by
Alexa Massa (Moorestown/Moorestown) to load the bases.
Alexandra Cosenzo (East Hanover/Hanover Park) then singled home Shaw with the tying run.
Following a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning, Lobell came to the plate with the bases still loaded. The freshman drew a walk that scored Arentowicz with the winning run in the 7-6 triumph that kept the Ospreys alive in the double-elimination tournament.
Against Kean, Massa, Arentowicz and Cosenzo rapped two hits apiece to account for six of Stockton's 10 safeties. Shaw singled in the seventh inning to become just the third Osprey ever to reach 50 hits in a season (S. Horner twice, S. Shockey, J. Afflitto).
Kean jumped on the Ospreys with three runs on four hits in the top of the first and Stockton never recovered. The Cougars added a run on three hits in the third inning to make it 4-0.
Stockton's only scoring came in the bottom of the third,
Chelsea Thomas (Barrington/Haddon Hts.) led off with a single and advanced all the way to third on an error. Thomas scored on a one-out RBI single by Massa. With two outs, Cosenzo ripped an RBI double that scored Massa to close the gap to 4-2. The RBI was Cosenzo's school-record 39th of the season.
Kean scored once in the fifth frame for a 5-2 count and the Ospreys were unable to mount a rally despite four hits in the last three innings.
After winning 24 games against one of the toughest schedules in the nation, Stockton is likely to receive an invitation to the ECAC Tournament. The ECAC bracket will be announced on Monday and the tournament will be played on May 10, 13-14.
