STOCKTON SPLITS NJAC TWINBILL WITH KEAN

Joey Afflitto

Richard Stockton (17-5, 2-4 NJAC) and Kean (13-9, 3-1) split an NJAC doubleheader. Stockton won the first game 2-0 as Michelle Pietrocola (North Brunswick/North Brunswick) tossed a shutout.

Kean rebounded to win a wild second game 8-7 after the teams combined for nine errors and three lead changes.

Pietrocola pitched a five-hitter with nine strikeouts in the opener for her third shutout of the season. Joey Afflitto (Brick/Brick) and Grace Long (Egg Harbor Twp./EHT) knocked two hits apiece for the Ospreys, with Afflitto driving in one run and scoring the other in the 2-0 win.

The game was a scoreless duel into the bottom of the fifth when Stockton scored twice. Afflitto knocked in the first run with an RBI single. Afflitto then stole second and came all the way around to score as the throw sailed into center field.

Kean loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth but Pietrocola struck out the next two batters to snuff the Cougars’ best scoring chance of the game. Katie Schuh finished 2-4 with a double for Kean. Cougars’ pitcher Courtney Yard scattered seven hits, fanned three and yielded just one earned run but absorbed the loss.

In the nightcap, Afflitto gave Stockton an early 1-0 lead with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first. Kean went ahead 2-1 with two unearned runs on four Stockton errors in the second inning. The Cougars increased the advantage to 5-1 with three more tallies in the third frame, two of which came on a double by Kelly Moorehead.

Stockton capitalized on two Kean errors to score five unearned runs in the fourth inning and regain the lead at 7-5. Nichole Terreri (Deptford/Deptford) and Nicole Chabak (Marlton/ Cherokee) stroked RBI singles before Afflitto provided the key blow with a three-run triple.

The Stockton lead was short-lived as Kean came right back with three unearned runs in the top of the fifth. Jill Martin started the rally with an RBI single and Alicia Banz singled home the tying and go-ahead runs. Yard, who came on in relief in the fourth frame, allowed just one hit in the last three innings to earn the win as the Cougars prevailed 8-7.

Afflitto went 2-4 with a triple, home run and four RBI while Danielle Kohen (Clark/Arthur L. Johnson) was 2-3 with an RBI. Moorehead finished 2-4 with a double, two runs and two RBI while Maria Scopellito was 2-4 with a run scored for Kean.