Box Score 

GLASSBORO, N.J. – William Paterson (26-14-1) pushed across two runs during the top of the seventh inning but could not plate the tying run, falling to 20th-ranked Rowan (27-11), 3-2, in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Softball Tournament May 4.

The third-seeded and defending-champion Pioneers will try to stave off elimination when they face sixth-seeded Richard Stockton (22-13) Friday, May 7, at The College of New Jersey's Lions' Park at 1:00 p.m. The Ospreys upset top-seeded TCNJ (30-7), 2-1, in the first round, while second-seeded Ramapo (27-13) fell to fifth-seeded Kean (25-14), 2-1 in eight innings. In Friday's other games, TCNJ and Ramapo will square off in an elimination game at 11:00 a.m., and Rowan will take on Kean at 3:00 p.m. The format for May 8-9 will be determined after the conclusion of Friday's contests.

The Profs scored all three of their runs during the bottom of the third inning, starting the frame with back-to-back doubles to break the scoreless tie. A sacrifice, RBI-single, walk and another run-scoring base hit handed Rowan a 3-0 edge.

Rowan sophomore Jamie Minix retired the game's first 13 batters until junior Lindsey Nadolny (Belford N.J./Middletown North) singled in the fifth. The Pioneers added a two-out base hit in the sixth, but did not threaten to score until the top of the seventh. Senior Christina Zippler's (Blackwood, N.J./Washington Twp.) leadoff single was followed by a strikeout, a Nadolny infield base hit and a Lacey Santone (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) single to left to load the bases with one out. Pinch hitter Kelsey Hand (Mountainville, N.Y./Cornwall Central) delivered a base hit to left-center field, plating Zippler, and Alexa Veniero (Belleville, N.J./Belleville) followed with a pinch-hit grounder that scored Nadolny but resulted in an out at third for pinch runner Allyson Scerbo (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg). The Pioneers' third straight pinch hitter, Samantha Koenig (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman), came to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs, but her strikeout ended the rally and the contest.

Nadolny had two of William Paterson's seven hits. Sophomore Michele Graham (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) fell to 15-10, allowing three runs on six hits over 6.0 innings, walking one Prof and striking out two.