CALDWELL, N.J. -- Late-inning heroics are getting to be a thing for the 2026 Caldwell University softball Cougars, who have now won four straight, three in their last at bat following a pair of walk-off victories in their CACC season opening doubleheader vs. Thomas Jefferson on Sunday at Caldwell Athletic Field, by counts of 6-5 and 5-4 (8 inn.).

In the opener, a see-saw affair that was tied at two, three and five, Caldwell (5-11, 2-0 CACC) used get-em-on, get-em-over, get-em-in to tally the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore 3B Lindsay Oller (So. Plainfield, N.J.) led off with a sharp single to left. Sophomore catcher Emily Kurth (Toms River, N.J.) laid down a perfect bunt, reaching first on the single. A sacrifice by sophomore 2B Maddie Matkosky (Horseheads, N.Y.) advanced the runners, and freshman RF Kendall Mazur (Millville, N.J.) delivered the game-winner, one bounce off the right center field fence to plate sophomore Emily Tavaska (Jackson, N.J.), who had pinch run for Kurth.

The heroics made a winner of junior righty Katie O'Connor (Charlottesville, Va.), who went the distance, permitting three earned runs while dancing in and out of trouble  in multiple innings for her second straight complete-game victory.

Kurth had three hits and four RBI, with two-run doubles in the first and fourth innings, and Mazur also drove in a run in the first, leading CU's 11-hit attack. 

In the nightcap, another exciting battle, the Cougars needed a two-run seventh-inning rally and a bit of baserunning derring-do to secure the win.

Trailing, 4-2, entering the bottom of the ninth, CU scored two when the Rams' center fielder misplayed a single by Mazur, plating Matkoski and freshman pinch runner Sofia Calas (Roselle Park, N.J.) and putting Mazur on third. Thomas Jefferson (8-8, 2-0) wiggled out of the jam, and after winning pitcher soph Haleigh Fisher (Smrna, N.Y.) set the Rams down in order in the eighth, it was Tavaska's time to shine again on the bases in the bottom of the frame.

Tavaska, who entered the game at shortstop in the seventh, led off with a twisty humpback liner that the first baseman couldn't handle for an error. She advanced to second on a two-strike slap by junior CF Kenzie Nazionale (Ontario, Calif.), who nearly beat the throw to first.

Then Tavaska stayed alert when the Rams tried a sneak pickoff at second, and when the ball skipped into center, advanced to third with one out. Then with freshman 2B Emerson Jarrard (Carlsbad, Calif.) on deck, Tavaska raced home when the TJU catcher couldn't handle a high pitch for a passed ball, the quick jump off third allowing Tavaska to slide in ahead of the throw for the thrilling triumph.

Fisher came in with one out in the first inning and went the rest of the way, tossing 7 2/3 masterful innings, retiring the first 15 batters she faced and allowing just five hits and no walks.

The Cougars next host Pace in a non-league doubleheader on Tuesday before returning to CACC play at Chestnut Hill on Thursday in Philadelphia.