STOCKTON EDGED BY MONTCLAIR STATE 3-2 AND 4-3

Jessica Goncalves

Game 1 / Game 2

Richard Stockton (13-3, 0-2 NJAC) opened NJAC play with a doubleheader at Montclair State (20-1, 2-0). The Ospreys led 2-0 in each game but were hampered by miscues at inopportune times.

The result was a pair of one-run defeats, 3-2 in eight innings and 4-3. Jessica Goncalves (Union/Union) led Stockton with two hits in each contest.

Goncalves went 2-3 with a run scored as she accounted for half of Stockton’s four hits in the first game. Jamie Gasko (Cinnaminson/Cinnaminson) allowed just one earned run on four hits with six strikeouts but suffered her first defeat of the season.

Stockton took a 2-0 in the third inning as Joey Afflitto (Brick/Brick) slugged an RBI double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Danielle Kohen (Clark/Arthur L. Johnson). Montclair State tied the game with a pair of runs in the fourth frame, the second of which was unearned due to a Stockton error.

With the tiebreaker in effect in the eighth inning (runner placed on second base), the Ospreys failed to capitalize before Montclair pushed the winning run across in the bottom half for the 3-2 final score.

Stockton again took a 2-0 lead in the nightcap as Katelyn Derewecki (Hillsborough/ Hillsborough) smacked a solo home run in the first inning and Goncalves added an RBI single in the fourth. The Red Hawks pulled ahead 3-2 with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Montclair capitalized on a Stockton error to score an unearned run in the fifth inning for a 4-2 count. In the top of the seventh, Heather Corica (Iselin/JFK) stroked an RBI single with two outs to pull the Ospreys within 4-3 but they stranded two runners on base as the game ended with a popup.

Goncalves finished 2-2 with a run and an RBI. Derewecki was 2-4 including her first home run of the season while Grace Long (Egg Harbor Twp./EHT) went 2-4 with a double. Michelle Pietrocola (North Brunswick/North Brunswick) allowed just five hits but was saddled with the defeat on the mound.