Lakewood, N.J.- On a day the Georgian Court University softball squad bid adieu to its trio of seniors (
Alyssa Paradiso,
Dara Schroeder, and
Katie Sorochka), the Lions split a pair of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contests vs. Nyack College in the final regular-season home games of 2015.
GCU (14-28, 13-11 CACC) opened Saturday's twin-bill with a 5-3 triumph over the visiting Warriors, but Nyack (11-30, 8-18 CACC) returned the blow by swiping a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.
GAME ONEThe Nyack offense rattled the Lions immediately in the first frame of the opener by plating two runs on three hits. The Lions countered by batting around and scoring three runs in the home half of the inning, led by a two-run single to right off the bat of
Brianna LaFiura and and a run-inducing bases-on-balls by
Bryana Smith.
GCU made it 4-2 Lions in the second as Schroeder singled up the middle, stole second, stole third, and scored after a Nyack miscue, provoked by the senior's lissome speed.
The Warriors pulled to within one after scoring once in the fourth, but Paradiso's ribbie single through the left side in the home fifth secured the all-important victory for the home team.
Abby Merryman yielded three runs (3 ER) on seven hits and two walks (1 K) in the complete-game win, improving to 8-11 on the year.
Kim Yano dropped to 6-14 for Nyack.
LaFiura (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI), Schroeder (2-for-3, R) and
Taylor Boltersdorf (2-for-3, R) each contributed multi-hit efforts for the Lions.
GAME TWOWith the desire of a sweep front-and-center on their minds, the Lions took an initial 1-0 advantage in the second inning of game two, thanks to a run-scoring double to left-center by
Stephanie Grainger.
Unfortunately, the Warriors had other plans as the visitors blitzed GCU for three runs on five hits in the top of the fourth, securing the road split for Nyack.
Ashley Manger (4-12) tamed the Lions in the complete-game victory, permitting just the lone run (0 ER) on five hits and a walk (2 K). Sorochka fell to 6-11 on the season in 6.1 innings of work for GCU.
Georgian Court concludes the regular-season Sunday afternoon with a twice-postponed doubleheader at first-place Caldwell University. First pitch is slated for noon.
