Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DANBURY, Conn. – The #16 Western Connecticut State pitching staff held Manhattanville in check for most of the evening and pounded out 20 hits at the plate to sweep the Valiants, 5-2 and 7-4, in a non-conference softball doubleheader on Friday evening at the Westside Field.
 
The Valiants were out-hit by a 20-9 margin on the night, as the visitors had trouble solving the WCSU tandem of Magen Dargon and Stephanie Moss.
 
The Manhattanville offense was largely silent in game one against Dargon, managing just two hits in seven frames in a 5-2 defeat.
 
Despite the two hits, Manhattanville actually held a 2-0 lead after half an inning, thanks to the bat of senior Ashley Dell (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington). Junior Lynsey Schill (Waterloo, Ont./St. David Catholic) led off the game with a walk and stole second base to get herself into scoring position, and then was able to stroll the rest of the way on Dell's first home run of the season.
 
Unfortunately, that was almost all the excitement generated against Dargon (10-1), who allowed one hit the rest of the way and struck out a total of 13 Valiants on the game, including a stretch of five punchouts in six batters in the second and third.
 
While Dargon kept the Valiants at bay, the Western Connecticut offense came alive with four runs in the third inning off junior Katie Pitcher (Cold Spring, N.Y./Valley Central). Four straight singles to start the inning, including a two-run base hit off the bat of Ashlie Morris, was followed by a two-run double from Alison Russo and just like that the home team had gone ahead 4-2. The Colonials tacked on one more in the sixth frame to make it a 5-2 score.
 
Pitcher (3-1) suffered her first collegiate loss for Manhattanville, allowing four runs on six hits in two innings. Freshman Kristen Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y./The Ursuline School) came on and pitched four effective innings of relief, allowing just one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in the final four frames.
 
The Valiants also struggled offensively in game two of the evening, and a late rally came up a few runs short as the Valiants were swept by a 7-4 score.
 
It was Western Connecticut that came out strong in the back end of the doubleheader, scoring twice in the first inning on RBI singles by Russo and Jackie Zilnicki off Rodopoulos, who got the start in the circle for the visitors. The Colonials scored twice more in the third frame – again with Russo and Zilnicki providing the run-scoring hits – and added two more in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.
 
Manhattanville finally got on the board in the fifth frame, as junior Amanda Locke (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) walked to lead off the inning and eventually came around on an RBI triple by Schill with two outs. Pitcher followed with a run-scoring single of her own, making it a 6-2 game.
 
After WCSU added one more in the bottom of the sixth, the Valiants made one last effort in their final at bat. The visitors loaded the bases with one down on a pair of singles by freshmen Jess Magnotta (West Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) and Marissa DeGaetano (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) and a hit batter, setting up Pitcher for a two-run single up the middle that brought the tying run to the plate. But unfortunately for Manhattanville, Dargon was called upon to close out the contest and induced a double-play lineout to conclude the day and pick up the save.
 
The top of the order performed well for the Valiants at the plate, as Pitcher went 2 for 3 with three RBIs from the two- hole and Schill had a hit, an RBI and a run scored from the leadoff spot.
 
Rodopoulos (3-5) took the loss for the Valiants, allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings. Pitcher was able to keep the visitors in the game out of the bullpen, allowing only one run on three hits over the final 2.1 innings.
 
Due to rain forecast in the area tomorrow, Manhattanville (7-10) will return to the field on Sunday, as the Valiants host Wilkes for two Freedom Conference contests beginning at 2 p.m. Western Connecticut (13-3) will travel to Springfield on Wednesday for two starting at 3:30 p.m.