Union, NJ – Stockton University (20-16, 6-8 NJAC) staged comeback tries that came up just a little short in each game of its doubleheader against #19 Kean University (32-5, 12-4). The Ospreys were edged 8-6 and 5-4 by their third nationally-ranked opponent of the season.
 
Although both games ended in defeat, the doubleheader featured a few milestones for Stockton. Meg Murzello (Maple Shade/Holy Cross) reached the 100-hit mark for her career. Victoria Torp (West Milford/West Milford) broke the school record for pitching appearances in a career. Freshman Lilly James (Roseland/West Essex) slugged her first career home run.
 
Carli Shaw (Bordentown/Bordentown) went 2-3 with a double, run and an RBI in the first game. James and Liani Ortiz (Marlton/Cherokee) each hit homers. The Ospreys went hitless through the first four innings and fell behind 7-0 before staging a rally.
 
Stockton came to life with four runs on five hits and an error in the top of the fifth. James sparked the big inning with her first career homer, a two-run blast. A double by Shaw and single by Murzello set the stage for an RBI single by Morgan DiVello (Hammonton/Hammonton) and RBI double by Casey Schieda (Monroe Twp./Monroe Twp.) that got the Ospreys within 7-4.
 
Ortiz led off the sixth inning with a solo homer, her second long ball of the season, and Shaw later knocked an RBI singled that closed the gap to 7-6. The rally stalled as Kean added an insurance run in the bottom half and retired three Ospreys in order in the seventh for the 8-6 final.
 
After starting the first game, Torp took the mound again to open game two for her 97th career appearance, breaking the mark of 96 by Michelle Pietrocola (2011-14). Murzello went 3-3 while Schieda was 2-4 with a double and two RBI in the contest.
 
Caroline Ratti homered for Kean in the bottom of the first and the Ospreys trailed 1-0 until Alexandra Cosenzo (East Hanover/Hanover Park) answered with a solo homer of her own in the fourth stanza for a 1-1 tie. An inning earlier, Murzello notched hit number one hundred with a single, joining Schieda as Stockton players to reach that mark this season.
 
A two-run bomb by Ratti in the bottom of the fourth made it a 3-1 game. Stockton got one back in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by Schieda that scored DiVello. The Cougars then plated single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and the Ospreys faced a 5-2 deficit entering their last chance.
 
In the top of the seventh, singles by Angie Dunphy (Hainesport/Rancocas Valley), Shaw and Murzello led to an RBI single by Schieda and bases-loaded walk to Cosenzo that brought Stockton within 5-4 and put the tying run at third base with one out. The Ospreys were unable to knot the game as a popup and foul out ended the contest as a one-run defeat.
 
Stockton will play its last two doubleheaders of the regular season at home, starting with an NJAC twinbill against Ramapo on Thursday at 3 pm.