Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Senior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) hit three more home runs at the plate and earned two more victories in the circle as Manhattanville softball swept Freedom Conference preseason favorite DeSales by scores of 6-4 (8 inn.) and 7-4 to run its winning streak to eight games on Saturday afternoon.
 
The eight-game streak is the longest for a Valiant squad since the 2007 team won 15 consecutive games, which included the final 12 games of the program's 42-game Skyline Conference winning streak. The two victories also moved Manhattanville (10-8, 6-0 Freedom) into sole possession of first place in the conference standings, two wins ahead of DeSales (8-7, 4-2 Freedom), FDU-Florham and King's (Pa.), all of whom the Valiants have already swept.
 
Taylor continued to contribute in all areas during the team's winning streak, going 3 for 7 with three homers, four RBIs and four runs scored in the two victories. Junior Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) also had a great day at the plate for Manhattanville, hitting .556 (5 for 9) with a homer, triple, three runs scored and three RBIs.
 
Manhattanville took the first game largely due to two swings of the bat, as Taylor's two-run homer put the Valiants ahead for the first time before Callara launched a two-out, three-run bomb in the top of the eighth inning to propel the Valiants to a 6-4 extra-inning win.
 
Callara came up huge for Manhattanville at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored. Her final swing of the day was easily the most important, capping an extra-inning rally for the visitors. After the first two batters were retired in the eighth inning, freshman Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) doubled to keep the inning alive and senior Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata) walked, allowing Callara to get up and homer for the first time this season and give the Valiants a 6-3 lead.
 
Taylor got through a little trouble in the bottom half, allowing one DeSales run but getting a pop out from Michelle Gessner with the tying runs on base to secure Manhattanville's seventh straight win. Taylor (8-5) earned her seventh straight victory as well by allowing four runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts in an eight-inning complete-game effort.
 
DeSales had taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run homer off the bat of opposing pitcher DJ McCauley (4-4), but Manhattanville came back with three runs in the third to regain the lead. Sophomore Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) made it a 2-1 game with an RBI single that scored Callara, and Taylor followed up with a two-run homer of her own to put the visitors in front.
 
The Bulldogs tied the game in the fifth on an RBI single from Emily Hockman. The home team also threatened to end the game in the bottom of the seventh, but Taylor got Alexa Beaumont to strike out with the bases loaded to send the game to extra innings.
 
Taylor continued her homer binge in game two, launching two more long balls to lead a 14-hit attack as the Valiants finished off the sweep with a 7-4 victory.
 
The senior went 2 for 3 with a walk and three runs scored in addition to her two homers, which matched the program single-game record achieved on 14 previous occasions. Five other Valiants had two hits in the win as well, including two-hit, two-RBI days from Mulkerin and freshman Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff).
 
The game did not start off well for Taylor and the Valiants, as DeSales scored three times in the first. Gessner led off with a homer and Beaumont followed with a two-run shot of her own, putting the home team up three runs after an inning.
 
Taylor got one of those runs back leading off the second, homering for the second straight game to make it a 3-1 game. The score remained that way until the fifth inning, when Damianos laced a two-run double to right-center, scoring Callara and Scapperotti to even the game at three.
 
After Taylor stranded the go-ahead run on third base in the bottom of the fifth, the senior stepped up to the plate leading off the sixth and again delivered a big blow, homering for the second time to give the Valiants their first lead of the game. The team followed with some two-out magic to manufacture another run, as Deieso singled, stole second and came home on a run-scoring single from Mulkerin to make it a 5-3 lead after five and a half.
 
Taylor started another rally in the seventh inning, this time thanks to an intentional walk. Senior Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) singled and took second on the throw to put two in scoring position, which eventually resulted in a bases-loaded walk to Deieso that scored Taylor. Mulkerin followed with a sacrifice fly for the team's seventh straight run, giving the visitors more breathing room headed into DeSales' last at-bat.
 
Taylor (9-5), who has earned the win in all eight games during the recent run, went all seven frames again, allowing four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. Rachel Vogel (4-2) took the loss for DeSales, allowing five runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings.
 
Manhattanville will have little time to rest after the two big wins, as the Valiants get right back into Freedom Conference play tomorrow with two games at Misericordia beginning at noon.