Ewing, NJ… It was a banner day for The College of New Jersey softball team on Friday as they not only claimed both ends of a doubleheader against visiting New Jersey City University, but the Lions also gave head coach Sally Miller her 500^th career win.
 
The win in the opener came by a 13-1 score in five innings with that win being the 500th of Coach Miller's career. She then added her 501^st win in the second game as TCNJ came away with a 6-4 triumph.
 
In 19 years of directing the Lions, she has compiled a mark of 501-256-2 and is the 39^th coach at the Division III level to reach that milestone. She is currently 27^th on the active win list among Division III coaches.
 
Miller has won at least 20 games in 17 of her first 18 complete seasons at the head of the program and guided the Lions to eight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, including the 1996 Division III Championship.
 
TCNJ continues conference play on Tuesday, April 22 when they head to Rutgers-Newark for doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. The Gothic Knights are in action as well on Tuesday as they return home to face Richard Stockton College.
 
Game 1
The College of New Jersey 13, New Jersey City University 1 (5 innings)  
TCNJ didn't waste any time in setting the tone in the first inning with a nice defensive play to get out of a small jam and then plated two runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
NJCU had runners on first and second with one out in the first, but the Lions turned a double play to end that threat. Third baseman Jessica Kennick (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) scooped up a ground ball, stepped on third for the force out, and then fired the ball over to first base to Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley) to complete the double play.
 
Once at the plate, the Lions got two quick runs with the first coming on a RBI single from sophomore Jamie Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) to score sophomore Christine Desiderio (Babylon, NY/Babylon). The second came on a nicely executed squeeze play by Kennick as freshman Colleen Phelan (Tinton Falls, NJ/Monmouth Regional) raced home to double the lead to 2-0.
 
The Gothic Knights got one of those back when Yaquelin Iglesias (White Plains, NY/White Plains) lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Kayla Muniz (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen), who led off the inning with a double.
 
Senior Lindsay Williams (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury) helped the hosts respond in a big way drilling her first career home run to center field. The homer was a two-run shot that also scored Utter. TCNJ added one more run in the inning on a run-scoring single to center by Purcell bumping the lead to 5-1.
 
TCNJ tacked on two more runs in the third on an Utter sacrifice fly and a RBI double by Williams to extend the margin to 7-1.
 
The Lions wrapped up the win with a six-run fourth sending 11 batters to the plate and then kept the Gothic Knights off of the board in the fifth to secure the win.
 
Senior Alex Carisone (Branchburg, NJ/Rutgers Prep) was solid as she struck out six to earn the win.
 
Williams was a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, while Purcell also had three hits with two runs batted in. Utter and Phelan added to the win with two hits each.
 
Game 2
The College of New Jersey 6, New Jersey City University 4 
The Lions once again got out to the early lead plating four runs in last of the second inning. Utter drove in the initial run of the inning, while Williams remained hot at the plate with a double that scored Olivia Fahr (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg).
 
The Lions kept thing rolling in the inning with Desiderio driving home a run with a base hit and Phelan made it 4-0 with a double that scored Desiderio.
 
In the third, TCNJ made it 5-0 when sophomore Kristen Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) hit a sacrifice fly to drive in senior Kristen Lake (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) coming home to score.
 
Williams made it 6-0 with her second home run of the game, this one of the solo variety to left field.
 
The Gothic Knights made things close in the seventh as Casey Perez (West New York, NJ/Academy of Holy Angels) walked with the bases loaded to force in a run, while Marissa Bariso (Hewitt, NJ/West Milford) hit a three-run double to make it 6-4.
 
Sophomore Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) took the mound for the Lions and recorded the final two outs of the game for her first save of the season.
 
Sophomore Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) earned the win as she finished with six strikeouts.
 
Williams, Utter, and Phelan paced the Lions at the plate, as Williams finished the two games going 5-for-6 with six RBI and three runs scored. She also homered twice and had two doubles.
 
Bariso drove in three of NJCU's four runs as she finished the second game going 2-for-4.
 
The two wins put the Lions at 8-22 on the year and 2-12 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while the Gothic Knights dropped to 5-27 and 1-13 in the conference.