EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Manhattanville College softball team settled for a split of its Freedom Conference doubleheader with Wilkes University on Saturday afternoon at the Ralston Athletic Complex, posting a 9-7 win in game one before the Lady Colonels came back to earn a wild 12-11 win in the second game.
Freshman
Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) led Manhattanville at the plate, going 5 for 7 (.714) with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Sophomore
Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff) added two homers, five RBIs and three runs scored, while classmate
Adrena Daw (Crompond, N.Y./Walter Panas) also drove in five runs as well.
Manhattanville used a six-run fifth inning to take control of Saturday's first game, breaking open a tie game and then holding on down the stretch to post a 9-7 victory.
Marino earned the win in the circle and also went 3 for 4 at the plate, while Damianos had a homer and drove in two and Daw drove in three runs.
The Valiants started the scoring in the top of the first thanks to a Marino run-scoring single, but that was matched by three Wilkes runs in the bottom half. Manhattanville promptly evened the score in the top of the second with a two-out rally, as sophomore
Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) doubled and came home on a two-run homer from graduate student
Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata).
The game remained tied until the fifth inning, when the visitors exploded for six runs – all with two outs – to go ahead for good. Senior
Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) started the rally with an RBI triple, and that was followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Damianos to make it a 6-3 lead. After two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two down, Daw subsequently unloaded them with a bases-clearing double to give the Valiants a six-run advantage.
Marino (6-2) earned the win in the circle, allowing four earned runs on nine hits over seven innings.
The second game of the day was a wild back-and-forth affair, with Wilkes getting the last word with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 12-11 victory.
The top of the order had excellent games for Manhattanville in a losing effort. Freshman
Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, followed in the lineup by Callara with four hits and two runs scored of her own. Damianos also homered, scored twice and drove in three as well.
The Valiants dug themselves out of an early four-run hole with five runs in the third inning to take the lead for the first time. Ventarola got the visitors on the board with an RBI double and Damianos added a run-scoring single before Marino drove home a pair to tie the score at four. After a pair of groundouts, Daw delivered again with a two-out single that scored Marino.
Manhattanville increased its lead thanks to a two-run homer by Damianos in the fourth inning and an RBI double off the bat of Ventarola in the fifth.
The Lady Colonels came back with five runs in the fifth inning to regain the lead, but the Valiants responded again in the sixth with another two-out rally. Senior
Alyssa Casino (Rye Brook, N.Y./Maria Regina) kept the inning alive with a single and raced home on Daw's RBI double, and Deieso followed with an RBI single to give the visitors a 10-9 lead. Sophomore
Melissa Iarocci (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to put Manhattanville ahead 11-9 with three outs to go.
Unfortunately the lead wasn't safe enough, as Wilkes scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to escape with the win.
Marino got the start for Manhattanville in game two but received a no-decision, allowing eight runs (six earned) on seven hits over 4.1 innings. Callara (0-4) took the loss in relief, allowing four runs on four hits over the final 1.2 innings.
Manhattanville (7-9, 1-3 Freedom) will have little time to rest, as the Valiants are back in action tomorrow with another Freedom Conference doubleheader against DeSales at Manhattanville Field beginning at noon.
