Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville softball team pounded out 25 hits and scored 21 runs in just 12 innings as the Valiants rolled to a doubleheader sweep of Hunter on Wednesday afternoon, posting 14-0 and 7-0 shutout victories over the Hawks in non-conference action at Manhattanville Field.
 
As can be expected by the scores, Manhattanville (14-12) had a very good day at the plate, hitting .455 as a team and seeing 13 players record at least one hit. Senior Jessica Van Galen (Bedford Hills, N.Y./Fox Lane) led the way, going 4 for 6 with two homers, four RBI and four runs scored, while junior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) did all her damage (2 for 3 with a homer, four RBI and two runs scored) just in game one. Junior Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata) and sophomore Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) both had three hits apiece as well, with Mulkerin driving in three and Callara knocking home four.
 
Meanwhile, Valiant pitching completely shut down the Hunter (6-18) offense, as three pitchers combined to post shutouts in both ends of a doubleheader for the first time since April 12, 2008 against Arcadia.
 
The first game of the day was never close, as Manhattanville scored six times in the first inning and added eight more in the second to cruise to a 14-0 five-inning win.
 
No player had more than two hits in the game, but that was because almost everyone made a contribution. Taylor provided some of the biggest blows, including a long three-run homer that was a part of her four-RBI day. The middle of the Valiant order (three through seven) combined to go 9 for 14 with 10 runs scored and seven RBI, while Callara drove in three from the leadoff spot and Mulkerin also plated three from the nine-hole as well.
 
All the Valiant damage in the first inning came with two outs, beginning with an RBI single from senior Katie Pitcher (Cold Spring, N.Y./Valley Central) that scored sophomore Laura Montalto (Bronx, N.Y./Preston). Taylor followed with her bomb to left field to make it a 4-0 score, and Mulkerin made it 6-0 with a two-run double of her own.
 
After Taylor set down the Hawks in the second, Manhattanville came right back up and scored eight more runs, sending 11 players to the plate in the process. Van Galen, Taylor and senior Brianna Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) all singled home runs to start the rally, while Mulkerin picked up an RBI groundout and junior Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) added a sacrifice fly. Callara had perhaps the hardest hit ball of the inning, lacing a triple to right-center that scored three more runs.
 
All that support was certainly more than enough for Taylor (7-1), who struck out four and allowed only two hits in four innings to earn the win. Sophomore Marissa DeGaetano (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) came on to pitch a flawless fifth, striking out the side to close out the game.
 
The day's second game was a lot closer for a while, but Manhattanville opened it up with four runs in the fifth inning to complete the sweep with a 7-0 victory.
 
Van Galen was the offensive star in the second game, launching a pair of homers and finishing the day with three RBI and two runs scored. Callara and senior Kim Angiolillo (White Plains, N.Y./Good Counsel Academy) both had a pair of hits as well in the win.
 
The Valiants scored their first two runs of the game via wild pitches from Leslie Dempsey, as Callara and Savage both scampered home to make it 2-0 after one inning. Van Galen hit a solo homer in the third to increase the lead to three after three, and she was again in the middle of things in the fifth, as her two-run homer made it a 5-0 game. Sophomore Kristen Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y./The Ursuline School) scored Angiolillo with an RBI single and Callara added another RBI base hit to give the home team a seven-run cushion.
 
Rodopoulos (6-8) made quick work of Hunter in game two as well, scattering six hits and striking out two on an even 100 pitches to pick up the victory.
 
Manhattanville will look to take its offensive momentum to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., this weekend for a very important Freedom Conference doubleheader, as the Valiants face off with preseason favorite King's (Pa.) for two games beginning at 1 p.m.