Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville softball team jumped out to a five-run lead after two innings and held on the rest of the way as the Valiants remained unbeaten in Freedom Conference play with their sixth straight win, a 5-4 victory over FDU-Florham on Thursday afternoon at Manhattanville Field.
 
Freshman Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff) played a major role in the Valiant victory, going 2 for 4 with a three-run homer. Senior Emily Frawley (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) continued her torrid hitting as of late with a perfect 4-for-4 day and an RBI, while junior Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) reached base four times with two hits, an RBI and a run scored for Manhattanville (8-6, 4-0 Freedom).
 
Maggie Murphy went 2 for 3 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead FDU-Florham (10-7, 4-2 Freedom), while Jenna Appello also homered and Wynne McCann reached base four times as well.
 
After senior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) retired the Devils in order in the first, it took Manhattanville all of three batters to take a three-run lead in the bottom half. Sophomore Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) led off with a first-pitch single and Callara took advantage of a dropped foul ball with a single through the left side. That set the table for Damianos, who sent a laser over the center-field fence for a 3-0 lead. The Valiants added one more on an RBI single from Frawley, giving the home team a four-run edge after one.
 
The home team added one more in the second inning, when Callara traded places with freshman Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) after a two-out double to make it a 5-0 score after two innings. That proved to be the game-winning run, as the Devils slowly attempted to claw back into the game in the later innings.
 
FDU got one run off Taylor in the top of the third thanks to an RBI single by Sarah Lima, ending the senior's shutout streak at 18.0 innings, dating back to the fourth inning of the team's last game with FDU on Saturday. But the damage could have been much worse, as Taylor got a lineout with the bases loaded to keep it a 5-1 game.
 
The Devils got two more in the fourth on a homer by Maggie Murphy just inside the left-field foul pole, and Taylor also found trouble in the fifth before inducing a key ground out from Toni-ann Canova that stranded the tying runs in scoring position.
 
A two-out solo homer from Appello in the sixth made the final innings a little more nerve-wracking for the home team, but Taylor worked around a one-out single in the seventh to secure the victory and keep the Valiants undefeated in conference.
 
Taylor (7-5) did not have her best stuff on the day, but still managed to win her and her team's sixth straight game. The senior allowed four runs (three earned) on 11 hits in seven innings, while Sydney Worek (6-4) allowed all five runs (three earned) on 14 hits to suffer the loss.
 
Manhattanville has a busy weekend of softball ahead of it with two key Freedom Conference doubleheaders on the horizon, beginning with two games at defending champion DeSales in Center Valley beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.