MIDDLESEX SOFTBALL SPLITS FOUR WITH NORTHAMPTON, GAINS #3 SEED IN REGIONAL PLAYOFFS

Middlesex College softball split four games in two days with Northampton and finished the regular season with a record of 24-8 to nab the #3 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Region 19 Division 3 softball playoffs.

Middlesex will host #6 Bergen CC in a best of three series starting Tuesday with a doubleheader slated to begin at 3:30PM. Should the teams need a deciding Game 3 that would take place on Wednesday.

Against Northampton, Middlesex dropped the first game, but received a huge grand slam by Samirrah Ortiz (Sophomore/Woodbridge, NJ) to bolster the Colts to a crucial Game 2 win.

Middlesex had jumped out to a 2-1 first inning lead and carried a 3-1 advantage into the fifth. However, the Spartans plated four runs in the top of the inning to take a 5-3 lead. The Colts answered with six runs in the bottom of the fifth though, with Ortiz's grand slam the big hit.

Northampton threatened with two runs in the seventh, but Madison Rackett (Sophomore/Woodbridge, NJ) shut the door from there for the complete game victory. Rackett also went 3-4 with a run scored in the game.

Makenzie Marsh (Sophomore/Middlesex, NJ) went 3-4 with a run and an RBI and Kelsey Geurts (Freshman/South Plainfield, NJ) went 2-2 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBIs.

The two teams bounced back the next day for another doubleheader and again Northampton took game one, setting up a final regular season game that would determine the #3 and #4 seed in the playoffs. The Colts came out on top, 9-3, to secure the #3 seed.

Middlesex carried a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth and the Spartans didn't really threaten from there.

The Colts offense was led by Gianna Rios (Woodbridge, NJ) who went 2-5 with a double, a run and four RBIs. Carla Seyfarth (Sophomore/Monmouth Junction, NJ) went 3-4 with two RBIs. Leah Kripaitis (Sophomore/Woodbridge, NJ) went 2-3 with a double a run and an RBI and Geurts had another two-hit, two-run game.

Ava Austin (Edison, NJ) went the distance in Game 2 and allowed just two earned runs over seven innings.   

Middlesex College wraps up a regular season in which they were among the nation's best Division III softball teams on both offense and in the pitching circle. The Colts finished sixth in the country among teams who played at least 30 games with a .376 team batting average and they were fifth in the same group with a .467 on base percentage. They were also eighth in the country with a 3.50 team ERA.