ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Manhattanville College softball team had its postseason hopes take a big hit on Monday afternoon, as the Valiants could not hold leads in both ends of a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Eastern University. The visitors dropped the first game by a 9-5 score and the second game by an 11-8 decision at Eagles Field.
 
Sophomore Adrena Daw (Crompond, N.Y./Walter Panas) and freshman Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) both had a team-best five hits on the day to lead Manhattanville (7-13, 1-7 Freedom). Sophomore Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) also drove in five and homered in both games, extending her streak of consecutive games with a long ball to four. That mark matches Alyssa Taylor '14 for the second longest streak in Division III history behind only the five-game streak of fellow former Valiant Jessica Van Galen '13 in 2012.
 
Manhattanville slowly built up a three-run lead in the first game of the day, but it all washed away when Eastern scored seven times in the sixth inning to take a 9-5 victory.
 
The Valiants struck first in the top of the first on a Marino sacrifice fly, and then got back to even in the third inning when senior Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) doubled home Ventarola to knot the game at two.
 
Manhattanville took the lead again in the fifth on a Callara sacrifice fly, and then added to the lead in the sixth on a leadoff homer from Marino and an infield groundout that resulted in Daw scoring on a throwing error.
 
The squad was just four outs away from a win after the first two batters of the sixth inning were retired, but the floodgates opened after that as Eastern staged a furious two-out rally that saw 11 batters come to the plate and seven runs come across to send the Eagles to a win.
 
Callara (0-6) again pitched well until the late innings, allowing four hits through the first five innings before Eastern broke through in the sixth. Haleigh Williams allowed five runs on nine hits in seven innings to earn the win for Eastern.
 
The Valiants showed some resilience in game two by clawing back from a five-run deficit to tie the score, but the sixth inning proved to be their downfall once again as Eastern scored three times to take the lead back for good in an 11-8 win.
 
After Eastern started the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first, Manhattanville came back for the first time with three in the third to take the lead. Sophomore Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff) broke the ice with a sacrifice fly to score graduate student Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata), and Marino followed with yet another homer, a two-run shot to make it 3-2 Valiants.
 
The Eagles put a six-spot up in the fourth inning to take back the lead, but Manhattanville responded again with four in the fifth. Marino singled home a run and Daw doubled home another for the first two Valiant runs. The last two of the fifth came via some small ball, as junior Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) sacrificed herself to score Marino and freshman Mackenzie Trainor (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) followed with a bunt single to plate Daw.
 
The Valiants tied the game in the sixth inning with a nicely manufactured run, as Mulkerin worked a leadoff walk, stole second, and eventually came home on a two-out single from Damianos.
 
However, Manhattanville was again struck down in the sixth inning, as Karlee Kerchersky hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run rally from which the visitors could not come back.
 
Callara got the start again and allowed only two runs on three hits in three innings, while Marino (6-4) suffered the loss in relief by allowing nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits.
 
Manhattanville will finally conclude its brutal stretch of four doubleheaders in four days tomorrow, when the Valiants return home to host Purchase College for two games starting at 3 p.m.