JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The No. 20 William Paterson softball team (27-9, 15-3 NJAC) secured the second seed for the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament, rebounding from an opening 2-1 loss at New Jersey City (11-25, 1-17 NJAC) for a 7-0 second-game victory behind senior
Allison Podmajersky's (Red Bank, N.J./Middletown South) no-hitter April 29.
WP will host fifth-seeded Stockton (20-17-1, 9-8-1 NJAC) in the first round Tuesday, May 2, at 4:00 p.m. Admission is free for William Paterson students with valid ID. Kean will host the remainder of the double-elimination tourney Friday-Sunday, May 5-7.
Game One
Two runs during the bottom of the seventh inning allowed the Gothic Knights to pull off the 2-1 upset win.
The Pioneers broke the scoreless deadlock in the top of the fifth. Junior left fielder
Kara Molnar (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) was issued a two-out walk, and an infield single by junior second baseman
Kaitlyn Poretti (Florence, N.J./Florence Memorial) and an NJCU error handed WP a 1-0 edge.
The Gothic Knights used a leadoff error, sacrifice, groundout, RBI-single, walk and run-scoring base hit to push across two runs during their final at-bat.
Junior center fielder
Eleni Lutas (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock) was 2-for-2 at the plate as the Pioneers left 12 runners on base. Senior
Gabrielle Castelli (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) took the loss with two unearned runs allowed on five hits and a walk over 6.2 innings, striking out nine (15-3).
Sophomore pitcher Christina Mezey was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and surrendered one unearned run, six hits and five walks with three strikeouts during the complete game (8-20).
Game Two
Podmajersky was one walk away from a perfect game as WP bounced back for a 7-0 closing win.
Sophomore third baseman
Christine Griffith (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional) reached base on a second-inning leadoff error and was sacrificed to second by Molnar before senior first baseman
Salina Pellios (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) delivered an RBI-single to right. Senior catcher
Kim Fryer (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg South) added a base hit to left-center field and Poretti followed with a run-scoring groundout for a 2-0 edge.
Freshman designated player
Vanessa Archibold (Saddle Brook, N.J./Saddle Brook) opened the top of the third with a bunt single, stole second and scored when senior right fielder
Nicole Fryer (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg South) bunted for a base hit.
The Pioneers blew the game open with three runs scored during the top half of the sixth. Griffith singled to third base and stole second, Molnar hit an RBI-single up the middle and Pellios drove across Molnar with a double to left field.
Kim Fryer's base hit to left center plated Pellios and made it a 6-0 score.
A Griffith double down the left-field line and a Pellios single to right pushed it to 7-0 lead in the seventh.
Pellios went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored. Griffith finished 3-for-4 while adding a double and three runs scored.
Podmajersky retired the first 14 batters before a fifth-inning walk. She struck out 10 batters for her second no-hitter in nine days (8-0 in five innings April 20 against DeSales), and her third career no-hitter (5-0 vs. The College of New Jersey in first round of 2015 NJAC Tournament, April 28).
Mezey gave up 11 hits, seven runs (five earned) and one walk over 7.0 innings, striking out one (8-21).
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