Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville softball team used a six-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Eastern by a 6-4 score in game two and earn a hard-fought sweep of the key Freedom Conference doubleheader, played on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Manhattanville Field. The Valiants started the day with a 7-2 win in game one.
 
With the wins today, Manhattanville (16-13, 9-3 Freedom) moves into a tie for first place in the Freedom Conference with two games to go and also clinches a spot in the Freedom Conference Tournament, which is set for May 4-5 at Manhattanville Field. Eastern (18-15-1, 7-5 Freedom) earned its way back to Purchase in two weeks despite the two losses, thanks to FDU-Florham's loss to Delaware Valley today.
 
Multiple players came up big for the Valiants on Senior Day, led appropriately enough by senior Ashley Dell (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington), who reached base in six of her seven plate appearances with five hits, a walk and two runs scored. Junior Katie Pitcher (Cold Spring, N.Y./Valley Central) also had a big day, going 3 for 8 with two homers and five RBI, including the go-ahead double in game two. Classmates Jessica Van Galen (Bedford Hills, N.Y./Fox Lane) and Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) both homered as well for the home team, with Van Galen's game-one bomb setting a new NCAA Division III record for consecutive games with a home run with five.
 
The hits kept coming for Manhattanville in game one, as the Valiants pounded out 14 hits and scored six times in the first three innings to clinch that postseason berth with a 7-2 victory.
 
Pitcher and Van Galen led the way for the Valiants in the win, as Pitcher went 2 for 4 with two solo homers and Van Galen went 3 for 4 with a homer and two runs batted in. Freshman Laura Montalto (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) added two hits and an RBI, while Dell had three hits and scored twice.
 
Eastern got on the scoreboard right way, getting one run in the top of the first. Samantha Tenezoni led off the game with a double to center field, and came around on a sacrifice bunt and an RBI groundout from Janelle Fair.
 
But Manhattanville came back to take the lead with four runs in the third inning, three of which came via the long ball. Pitcher evened the score with a one-out homer to left field, and Van Galen followed with her sixth homer in the last five games to score herself and Dell, who kept the inning alive with a double down the right-field line. Montalto scored the fourth run, after the right fielder misplayed a single by junior Kim Angiolillo (White Plains, N.Y./Good Counsel Academy).
 
The Valiants added two more in the fifth inning, as Taylor scored on another Eagle error and Montalto followed with a run-scoring single up the middle. After Eastern scored one in the top of the sixth, Pitcher got it right back in the bottom half with her second homer of the day, her first career multi-homer game.
 
Taylor (6-5) earned the win for Manhattanville, allowing only two runs on 11 hits while striking out three in seven innings. Fair (13-5) suffered the loss for Eastern, striking out six but also allowing 14 hits and all seven runs (six earned).
 
The second game of the day did not look good for most of the game, but the Valiants took advantage of two Eagle errors to stage a six-run sixth-inning rally and complete the sweep with a 6-4 victory.
 
The Valiant offense was largely stagnant for most of the afternoon against Eastern hurler Maggie McGowan, as the home team managed just two hits over the first five frames. Meanwhile, the Eagles scored once in the fourth on an RBI ground out by Jaimie Schwartz to open the scoring, and then added three more over the next two frames on Samantha Tenezoni's two-run homer and a Katelyn Donald run-scoring single.
 
But the offense finally came alive in the sixth, scoring six times on five hits and two very big Eastern errors. Taylor started the inning off with a bang, sending a McGowan offering over the left-field fence for her third homer of the season. Singles by Dell and Montalto put two runners on base for the Valiants before the Eagles' defense failed McGowan, as back-to-back errors in the infield scored one run and allowed the inning to continue. With two outs, freshman Arianna Martignetti (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) beat out an infield single to make it a 4-3 Valiant deficit and bring up Pitcher, who sent a 2-2 offering from McGowan to the left-center field wall, with the double clearing the bases and giving Manhattanville its first lead of the game.
 
After staking herself to her first lead of the game, Pitcher worked around a leadoff single in the seventh to close the door and give the home team an impressive sweep.
 
Pitcher (6-5) earned her sixth win of the year by allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits over seven frames. McGowan (5-8) took the loss, allowing six runs (only one earned) on seven hits in six innings.
 
The Valiants are scheduled to return to Manhattanville Field tomorrow at noon for two games against NYU-Poly, but rain in the forecast may change those plans. Check GoValiants.com tonight and tomorrow for information about potential game postponements.