Box Score (Game #1)
Box Score (Game #2)

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The William Paterson softball team (15-7, 5-3 NJAC) extended its win streak to five games with an 11-6, 7-2 sweep at New Jersey City (11-17, 0-8 NJAC) April 15. Senior second baseman Lindsey Nadolny (Belford, N.J./Middletown North) was a combined 5-for-9 with three RBI and three runs scored, while senior first baseman Jenna Vitale (Kenilworth, N.J./David Brearley) was 4-for-8 with four runs and three RBI.

GAME ONE
The Pioneers stormed out to a 7-1 lead and pulled away for an 11-6 opening victory.

NJCU scored first when an errant throw on a steal of third base allowed Megan Ginter to cross the plate in the bottom of the first. That lead was short lived, as William Paterson pushed across four second-inning runs. Vitale started the frame with a double and was lifted for pinch runner Laura Henriquez (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional). Senior Heather Mendez (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) walked and freshman Jessica Warner (Runnemede, N.J./Triton) singled to load the bases for Jessica Maciolek (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert), whose fielder's choice resulted in the lead runner being out at the plate. A Nicole Jimmerson (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech) base hit and an error by the Gothic Knight left fielder plated three runs, and two batters later Nadolny doubled in Jimmerson for a 4-1 score.

Vitale and junior Raquel Roder (Hoboken, N.J./Hoboken) had back-to-back singles before Warner hit her first career home run, a three-run shot to right, to make it a 7-1 margin in the top of the third. Ginter hit a solo homer for NJCU during the home half of the frame.

Base hits by Nadolny and sophomore pitcher Kelsey Hand (Mountainville, N.Y./Cornwall Central) gave WP runners on the corners with one out in the fourth, and Vitale's grounder knocked in Nadolny before a Roder two-bagger plated Hand and handed William Paterson a 9-2 lead.

Marissa Bariso's two-run homer made it a 9-4 score after five innings, but Warner's ground-rule double was enough to drive in Vitale and Hand during the top of the sixth inning for an 11-4 advantage. NJCU finished the scoring with two runs during the home half of the sixth.

Warner was 3-for-4 with a double, home run, two runs scored and five RBI. Nadolny went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a RBI and one run, and Vitale finished 2-for-4 and contributed a double, RBI and two runs scored. Hand improved to 5-2, allowing six runs (five earned) and 10 hits in 5.2 innings. Junior Michele Graham (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Bariso was 2-for-4 with the two-run homer to lead NJCU. Sophomore Ashley O'Beirne pitched the complete game, allowing 11 runs on 13 hits (7-8).

GAME TWO
Four of the Pioneers' nine hits were for extra bases in a 7-2 win.

Freshman shortstop Katelyn Miele (Flanders, N.J./Pope John XXIII) walked and Nadolny scored them both with her first home run of the season, clearing the right-field fence in the first inning.

Nadolny doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Vitale base hit to get things started in the third. Senior center fielder Jillian Mulderig (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) later drew a bases-loaded walk, handing WP a 4-0 edge after three frames.

A Vitale groundout plated Miele, who led off the fourth with a two-bagger to left, for a 5-0 margin. The Gothic Knights put together five hits to score two runs during the top of the fifth, but William Paterson answered with a pair of scores of its own thanks to a Maciolek RBI-double and a Miele sacrifice fly.

Vitale was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Nadolny finished 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Graham improved to 7-3, allowing two runs on nine hits while striking out six Gothic Knights.

Ginter paced NJCU with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Jess Mucerino fell to 4-9, surrendering seven runs on seven walks and nine hits in 6.0 innings.

William Paterson will play a doubleheader at Rutgers-Newark Saturday, April 16, at 11:00 a.m.