Newport News, VA - The CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) champion John Jay Bloodhound softball team kicked off its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Thursday afternoon.
The Bloodhounds automatically qualified for the tournament after scoring their second consecutive CUNYAC Tournament championship on Saturday afternoon.
This marks also the second year in a row the Bloodhounds have traveled to the Commonwealth of Virginia for their NCAA Tournament appearance, traveling to Virginia Wesleyan in 2023.
John Jay kicked off the opening round against the hosts, and three seed in the tournament, the Christopher Newport Captains on their home turf at Captains Park.
The Bloodhounds held strong against the Captains, allowing just four runs on eight hits but ultimately fell 4-1.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After starting pitcher
Jailene Santiago threw a clean opening inning, Christopher Newport's Caroline Pollock broke the scoreless tie in the second frame with an RBI single to left field.
The Captains put a runner on with their second batter of the third batter when Delaney Nuckols drove a pitch up the middle for her first hit of the game. Nuckols stole second and was advanced to third by the next batter.
Katie Currin brought her home just a few pitches later with a double that pushed the Captains lead to 2-0.
Jules Donnelly continued the run with an outfield single that scored Currin and improved the CNU lead to 3-0.
The Bloodhounds held their opponents scoreless for nearly the next two innings until the John Jay fielders misplayed a pair of balls, putting two Captain runners on. Currin logged her final RBI of the day on a double to left field that scored Reagin Luby and pushed the host's lead to 4-0.
Santiago closed out her six-inning outing with a pair of strikeouts against the Captains in the bottom of the sixth. She finished the day with five strikeouts, eight hits, three earned runs and no walks.
The top of the batting order was up for John Jay in the top of the seventh inning.
Elika Rodrigues broke up the no-hitter with perfectly placed bunt up the first base line on the first pitch of the at-bat, giving the Bloodhounds their first base runner of the game.
Maleea Gallaspy continued the momentum in the next at-bat, singling through the right side of the infield and advancing Rodrigues.
Santiago advanced both runners with one out with a grounder to the second baseman, leaving runners in scoring position for
Alyssa Cadolino.
Cadolino battled at the plate before connecting with a pitch and driving it through the left side of the infield, scoring Rodrigues to cut the CNU lead to 4-1.
Sidney Bankston was unable to add to the scoring in the final at-bat of the game.
NEXT UP: The Bloodhounds continue to the lower bracket of the double-elimination regional following the loss. John Jay will face Pfeiffer in an elimination game on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at Captains Park.
