The Rowan University softball team took down both opponents they faced last week in a pair of doubleheaders. The Profs defeated William Paterson University 12-0 (5 innings) and 6-1 on Tuesday, and continued their road trip with a pair of wins against New Jersey City University (NJCU) 13-1 and 11-0, both of which were won in five innings, on Saturday. 

Many Profs contributed to the team’s success throughout the week, as they pieced together 42 runs on 50 hits. Senior second baseman Sonia Sharma, who collected four hits in six at-bats against NJCU, described what led to her success at the plate. 

“This whole preseason my coaches have been giving me new tips on what I should be doing at the plate, and how my swing should be, like the mechanics,” Sharma said. “So I’ve been really listening to them and just focusing on that outside of playing time, so I just focus on that when I’m at practice, and when I’m finally up at the plate I don’t really think about anything else.” 

With all of the success that Sharma has had in the past week, she earned New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Player of the Week. She totaled nine hits, three of which were doubles, in the past week. She is also batting .462 on the season. 

In addition to Sharma’s performance at the plate this past week, junior right fielder Mariah Wysocki was a huge factor in the victories over the Gothic Knights on Saturday. 

Wysocki totaled three hits, six RBIs and two runs scored, which included a three-run home run in the second game against NJCU. 

Wysocki described her approach at the plate when she hit the home run, as she dedicated her at-bats to her travel coach who passed away two weeks ago. 

“I was in a really bad hitting slump, and normally he’s my hitting instructor and we were working on getting out of the funk,” Wysocki said. “Tuesday before our game we finally had his funeral and everything, so I realized that it isn’t just about me trying to figure out my swing anymore, it’s more about honoring him, so I just tried to dedicate my at-bats to him and it ended up working.”  

Wysocki, who played at two different schools before transferring to Rowan University, discussed her time playing for the Profs so far. 

“I absolutely love Rowan, and Rowan by far has been the most accepting team that I’ve ever been on,” Wysocki said. “I just love my teammates, I love my coaches, they’ve been nothing but awesome.” 

The Profs, who were 12-4 on the season after those four wins, also have an eight-game winning streak. They will have four more games this week, playing doubleheaders against Stockton University and Ramapo College of New Jersey. They also remain undefeated in the conference.

Sharma believes the Profs should stay focused in order to keep up with the success that they have had throughout the season. 

“I think that we should just focus on one game at a time,” Sharma said. “We shouldn’t really think about the winning streak, just pitch by pitch, play by play, and just do the little things in order to keep winning.” 

The Profs will play NJAC games the remainder of the season, including notable matchups against Kean University, The College of New Jersey and Ramapo this Saturday. 

Sharma described how she used her experience against NJAC schools to benefit herself and her teammates. 

“After playing here for four years, you kind of catch on to all of the teams that are our biggest competition,” Sharma said. “It’s just easy to help the underclassman because I know some of the girls that we’ve been playing with over the years, as long as I’m giving the girls tips and confidence before every game they feel a lot better I believe.” 

Both Sharma and Wysocki, who have been instrumental in the Profs success this season, believe they still have room for improvement. They both would like to work on their at-bats and getting better each time they step into the batter’s box. 

“I think that [I want to improve on] making adjustments earlier in the game, like when I’m at-bat, like making adjustments pitch by pitch rather than at-bat by at-bat,” Sharma said.

“I still want to improve on my at-bats, like I said I was going through a hitting slump and I feel like I’m finally working my way out of it,” Wysocki said. “So I just want to continue to not go back into a slump, and continue to get better each game.” 

The Profs defeated Stockton in both games of their doubleheader this past Tuesday, improving to 14-4. They will face Ramapo in a doubleheader at home on Saturday, and will look to improve their record to 8-0 at home. 

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