When I first arrived at MU in September 2009, I wasn’t happy. Just about every weekend included a 75-minute drive to Maple Shade Friday afternoon, and a 75-minute drive to West Long Branch Sunday night.

It wasn’t until I joined The Outlook in the beginning of my sophomore year that I really started to enjoy the University.

I still remember the sunny day that I walked up to the newspaper’s table at the involvement fair and started asking questions. The next Monday I attended my first writers’ meeting and was assigned a story. Ever since that men’s soccer article, I’ve written nearly every issue.

The weekends no longer included a drive to South Jersey and I started meeting people; first my suite-mates, then their friends, and their friends, and so on. Before long, I had a solid group to hang out with and the “college experience” that I had been dreaming of all through high school was coming true.

Since that time, college has been the best years of my life. Every day is filled with fun and I can’t believe there was a time that I considered transferring to Rowan. Without The Outlook, I may have switched schools.

The last three years have been nothing short of amazing, and there are a number of people who I need to thank.

My Family

Undoubtedly, I would have transferred if it weren’t for my family. My sisters told me to stick it out and my parents told me they would support any decision I made, but they wanted me to give MU another chance. Thankfully, I listened.

I also never would have joined the paper if my dad didn’t push me towards it. The conversation went something like, “You’re going to school for journalism. Join the paper or find a new major.” This was the best advice I ever received.

The baseball team won three games out of four against Northeast Conference opponent the Sacred Heart Pioneers in West Long Branch this past weekend. The team collectively scored 37 runs off 50 hits in the series.

Southpaw junior Andrew McGee began the series with a 3-2 loss in a 12-inning game this past Friday. After a 10-inning effort, and two earned runs, McGee was replaced by the sophomore submarine righty, Jeff Paglione. The Pioneers scored the winning run off Paglione in the twelfth after a debatable stolen base call was made in Sacred Heart’s favor, placing a base runner in scoring position.

McGee’s talent was evenly matched by Sacred Heart’s starting pitcher, Troy Scribner. Prior to the ninth inning, there was a mere ten hits in the game. Both McGee and Scribner pitched ten frames and surrendered two runs.

As the contest was mainly dominated by the pitchers, the Hawks’ runs did not come easy. It was not until the ninth inning that MU scored their first run. Senior first baseman Chris Perret homered down the right field line for his fourth home run of the season and tied the game at 1-1.

Sacred Heart responded with a run of their own in the top of the tenth, giving them a 2-1 lead. MU quickly retaliated in the bottom of the tenth with the hero once again being Perret. With sophomore catcher Kyle Perry on third, Perret sent a ball between the gap at first and second to earn his second RBI of the game.

The Hawks ended their final Northeast Conference regular season on Sunday by sweeping the home double-header against the Saint Francis University Red Flash, blanking them 6-0 and 7-0 respectively; going into the playoffs on a three-game win streak. Pitchers Lauren Sulick and Jordan Barnett pitched complete game shutouts earning them both their eleventh wins of the season.

While senior day took place during the double-header festivities honoring the six graduating seniors, Jordan Barnett, Tish Derer, Kate Kuzma, Christine Scherr, Lauren Sulick, and Kayla Weiser.  “It was a great way to end a regular season, with two wins on Senior Day,” Head Coach Louie Berndt said. “I was very proud for all the seniors because they’ve contributed for the last four years and actually made the program move forward. I’m excited that everybody had a hand on both wins today.” That was not all of the celebrating MU had done that day.

The Hawks got things started in the bottom of the third in game one, where Kathleen Flores led off the inning with a bloop infield single to third base, followed by a single to right from Derer.  After a walk to Alicia DeSanto and Katie Schmacher reaching base on a fielder’s choice to get the runner out at home, senior Scherr hit a two-run single to center to put the blue and white’s first two runs on the board.   With runners on second and third, with two outs in the inning, Kuzma brought the runners home with a two-run double to left.

The top-seeded Hawks won their second consecutive Northeast Conference (NEC) title over the weekend with wins against Mount St. Mary’s and Bryant. Senior defender Gianna D’Urso was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, leading a defense that allowed 8.5 goals over the weekend and she cause three turnovers.

D’Urso was shocked that she won the MVP award. She explained, “I was really shocked honestly, it’s great but to be honest, I felt that our whole team deserved it. I truly believe that every single person on our team could have gotten it.”

The Hawks held on to defeat fourth-seeded Mount Saint Mary’s in the NEC Semifinal Friday afternoon on Kessler field by the final score of 12-9. MU was led offensively by the NEC Offensive Player of the Year, junior midfielder Kaleigh Gibbons.  She had six points on three goals and three assists. Senior attacker Cassie Campasano found the back of the net three times, while sophomore midfielder Karlee Dean registered a pair of goals off the bench.

The blue and white wasted little time to score as they won the first four draws of the game, which all led to goals. NEC Rookie of the Year, freshman midfielder Marial Pierce, scored the first goal for MU, as she cut across the crease and ripped a shot past Mountaineers net minder Sarah Jane Leder.

After that, Campasano scored off of a feed from Gibbons. Dean scored back-to-back goals to force Mount to take a timeout. After the time out, Mount’s Lindsay Diaz scored off a free position shot with 22 minutes remaining in the first frame.