Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville softball team ran its winning streak to eight games and remained perfect at home this season with 8-0 and 6-3 victories over Brooklyn in non-conference action on a chilly Friday afternoon at Manhattanville Field.
 
Freshman Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff) continued to tear through opposing pitching, going 6 for 7 with two doubles and two runs scored in the pair of victories, raising her batting average 21 points to .591 this year and moving to within five hits of setting a new school single-season mark. Senior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) also went 5 for 7 with two homers, tying the school single-season record of 11 set by Michele Ribeiro '07 in 2006.
 
Manhattanville (19-7) also improved to 10-0 at home this season, outscoring the opposition 85-10 in 61 innings at Manhattanville Field.
 
Taylor led the Valiants in all facets of game one, going 3 for 3 with a three-run homer while also allowing just one hit in five frames as the Valiants posted an 8-0 (5 inn.) win.
 
The righthander was dominant against a Bulldog team that entered the day hitting .330 as a squad, striking out four and allowing only a two-out single in the second inning. At the plate, Taylor launched a three-run homer in the first inning to give herself more than enough support, and added two more hits and another run scored.
 
Classmate Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) also went 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, while junior Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) had two hits and drove in two from the top of the lineup.
 
Manhattanville started the game with a two-out rally, scoring three times after the first two batters were retired in the first. Damianos singled and classmate Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) worked a four-pitch walk to bring up Taylor, who went opposite field for a three-run homer that made it a 3-0 game after one.
 
With the game still close, Manhattanville scored four times in the fifth to end the game early for the seventh straight time. Back-to-back singles from Diemicke and Taylor chased starter Kim Brennan (1-2) from the game, but Marie Oneto fared no better in relief as she was greeted by singles from Savage and senior Emily Frawley (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) as well as a sac fly by freshman Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) to make it a 6-0 game. Callara followed that with a triple down the right-field line, scoring both runners to end the game.
 
Game two saw Manhattanville play a full seven innings of softball for the first time in the last eight games, but the Valiants still held off the Bulldogs to complete the sweep with a 6-3 win.
 
Damianos had another great game at the plate with four hits in four at-bats, while senior Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata) hit a grand slam to tie a career high with four RBIs and reached base three times on two hits and a walk. Taylor and Savage both homered as well for the Valiants in the victory.
 
The Valiants got four runs with one swing of the bat in the second inning, thanks to the first career grand slam from Mulkerin. Singles by Taylor and Frawley around a Savage walk loaded the bases with no outs, and Mulkerin pulled a ball over the fence in left-center for the quick four-run lead.
 
Manhattanville got two more in the third inning, both coming from the long ball as well. Taylor led off the inning with a solo shot to left field, her record-tying 11th of the season. Savage came up next and lofted a ball just over the fence in straight-away center for her second four-bagger of the year, making it a six-run lead after three.
 
Brooklyn got three runs back in the fourth inning thanks to some sloppy play from the Valiants, but the Bulldogs never really threatened to get completely back in the game.
 
Taylor (17-6) earned her second win of the day, allowing three runs (one earned) on only three hits in a full seven innings. Her 17 wins this season are the most in program history by a Valiant not named Maggie Thomas '07, placing her fifth on the school single-season list.
 
The Valiants will remain at the friendly confines of Manhattanville Field for the final six games of the regular season, beginning with a non-conference doubleheader against John Jay on Thursday beginning at 3 p.m.