Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Senior Lindsay Zekus (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow) hit a go-ahead homer in the top of the sixth inning and classmate Samantha Howe (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./John Jay) made the lead stand up in the circle as the Manhattanville softball team came back to defeat King's (Pa.) College, 2-0, in game two and earn a split of a key Freedom Conference doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at the Betzler Complex.

After dropping the first game by a 5-2 score, Manhattanville came back with a great game-two effort to earn a split against the two-time reigning Freedom Conference champions.

Zekus was one of the stars of the game for the visitors, going 2 for 3 with the game-deciding homer, while sophomore Brianna Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) also had two hits for Manhattanville, including scoring a key insurance run in the top of the seventh.

Howe and the Monarchs' Brittany Haight engaged in a quality pitchers' duel for the first five innings, as the two hurlers traded zeroes on the scoreboard. But in the top of the sixth, Zekus sent a pitch over the centerfield fence to put the visitors up by a run.

In the seventh, Manhattanville added an insurance run thanks to a pair of Monarch miscues in the field. After Scapperotti and Howe led off the frame with back-to-back singles, Scapperotti reached third on an error by the catcher and subsequently came home on a second error by the third baseman to give the visitors some breathing room.

Not that the extra run was needed, as Howe (4-4) shook off a game-one loss to hold King's to just two hits in picking up her fourth win of the year. The senior retired 15 of the last 16 batters and struck out seven in earning the victory, allowing no Monarch runner to reach third base past the first inning of the game.

King's started the day by taking the first game, 5-2, as the home team scored two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth to pull out the victory.

After a scoreless first inning, Manhattanville put the first run of the game on the board in the second, taking advantage of a Monarch error. With two down in the inning, Scapperotti reached on an error by the shortstop and Howe made the home team pay immediately with a double to right center that scored Scapperotti all the way from first.

The Valiants came back for more the next time around the order, as sophomore Jessica Van Galen (Bedford Hills, N.Y./Fox Lane), junior Ashley Dell (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington) and Scapperotti strung together three straight hits. The last of which was a double that scored freshman pinch runner Tori Pizzuto (Waterbury, Conn./Westminster) for a two-run lead.

However, that would be the last run scored by the Valiants in the game, as King's scored five unanswered runs off Howe to take the lead and pick up the game-one win. The Monarchs tied the score with two runs in the fourth inning, as RBI singles from Kayla Rutkowski and Erin Beane with two outs knotted the score. The home team then scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead for good, as two singles and a fielder's choice allowed the Monarch runners to cross the plate.

Howe took the loss in the circle for Manhattanville, giving up all five runs on 10 hits in six innings. Annie Erndl picked up the complete-game win for the Monarchs, allowing two runs (one earned) on eight hits in seven innings.

Manhattanville (4-5, 3-1 Freedom) is scheduled to continue Freedom Conference play on Saturday with two games against Delaware Valley at Manhattanville Field starting at noon. King's (5-5, 1-1 Freedom) travels to Ithaca College for two non-league games tomorrow at 3 p.m.