Box Score 

WAYNE, N.J. – The No. 24 William Paterson softball team earned its 30th victory of the season while winning the opening game of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament with a 3-0 home win against Kean (19-18) April 28.

The Pioneers will next face The College of New Jersey in the second round of the double-elimination NJAC Tournament Friday, May 1, at 4:00 p.m. at Rowan University. The Cougars will take on Montclair State in an elimination game May 1 at 11:00 a.m.

The Pioneers reached the 30-win plateau for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2005 (37-11-1) on the strength of a one-hit pitching performance by freshman Michele Graham (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne), who saw her attempt at a perfect game end with a single through the left side of the infield to lead off the top of the fifth inning. Graham (13-4) struck out six Cougars for her 10th complete game and second shutout this season.

Sophomore second baseman Lindsey Nadolny (Belford, N.J./Middletown North) was 3-for-4 and scored a run for the Pioneers. Senior Meghan Reilly (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) and sophomores Jenna Vitale (Kenilworth, N.J./David Brearley) and Nicole Jimmerson (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech) each drove in a single run for William Paterson.

Kean's Cassie Shotwell suffered the loss (11-9) after allowing eight hits and three runs in 5.2 innings before a come-backer knocked her out of the game. Junior Allison Lizzi accounted for the Cougars' lone hit of the day.

William Paterson scored single runs during each of its first three at-bats. In the first, singles by Christina Zippler (Blackwood, N.J./Washington Twp.), Nadolny and Jimmerson pushed across Zippler for the game's first run. Sophomore Jillian Mulderig (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) drew a one-out walk, was sacrificed to second and scored thanks to a Reilly single back up the middle during the bottom of the second, and a Nadolny base hit and a Vitale RBI-double made it a 3-0 score after three innings.