Ewing, N.J. – Stockton University (10-18) was eliminated from the NJAC Tournament with a pair of defeats to 16th-ranked The College of New Jersey (21-3) in the first two games of the best-of-three semifinal series. The scores were 4-1 and 2-0 in favor of the Lions, who are the NJAC No. 2 seed while Stockton is No. 6.
Stockton pitchers
Marissa Semeraro (Ridgefield/Ridgefield),
Samantha McErlane (Mt. Ephraim/Audubon) and
Stevie Unger (Tower City, Pa./Williams Valley) combined to allow just four earned runs on eight hits in the twinbill, but the Osprey offense was stifled by a trio of TCNJ hurlers.
Stockton outhit TCNJ 6-4 in the opener behind three safeties by
Lilly James (Roseland/West Essex), including two doubles, and two hits from
Madison Kelly (Franklinville/Delsea).
Semeraro pitched the first five innings, yielding two earned runs plus two unearned on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Unger tossed a perfect sixth frame, needing just 12 pitches to induce three groundouts.
TCNJ scored one run apiece in the third and fourth innings for a 2-0 count. Stockton got on the board in the top of the fifth as James ripped an RBI double that scored
Meg Murzello (Maple Shade/Holy Cross) to make it 2-1. The Lions came right back with two runs in the bottom half for a 4-1 score that became the final.
McErlane hurled the first five innings of the nightcap, limiting TCNJ to just one run on three hits in a second straight strong performance by her on the mound. Unger continued her work out of the bullpen, giving up one run, one hit and three walks in two innings pitched.
Offensively, the Ospreys managed just two safeties off Lions' hurler Alanna Namit. Murzello rapped a double while James added her fourth hit of the twinbill and also walked once. TCNJ scored one run apiece in the fourth and sixth innings to eliminate Stockton from the NJAC Tournament 2-0.
Stockton finished the shortened season with 10 wins, highlighted by a doubleheader sweep of higher-seeded Montclair State in the NJAC Tournament quarterfinals on May 7. Twelve of the team's 18 losses came against squads that either are ranked in the current NFCA national poll (#16 TCNJ four times, #21 Rowan six times) or were ranked at the time of the games (#8 Kean).
