CLERMONT, Fla. – After three days of torrid hitting, pitching carried the Manhattanville College softball team to a fourth straight sweep on Thursday night, as sophomore Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) and freshman Julianna Orrico (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) both tossed complete-game shutouts in a 5-0 win over Waynesburg University and a 6-0 blanking of SUNY Potsdam at the Spring Games.
 
The two wins keep Manhattanville (8-0) perfect on the young season and surpass the 2003 team's 7-0 record as the best start to a season in program history.
 
After three days of non-stop hitting, Feeney and Orrico combined to completely shut down the opposition on a long Thursday evening, allowing a combined nine hits and striking out 10 in 14 scoreless frames. Junior Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) led the offense with three hits in six at-bats and freshman Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) added a homer and three runs batted in as well.
 
GAME ONE
 
Feeney was the star of Thursday's first game, tossing a two-hit shutout to lead Manhattanville to a 5-0 win over Waynesburg.
 
The righthander allowed just three balls past the infield in picking up her fourth straight win (4-0). She got nine outs through the air and nine on the ground in addition to a pair of strikeouts in seven innings, allowing only one runner to reach second base.
 
The Valiant offense was limited to season-lows in runs (five) and hits (eight), but the team still did more than enough to win. Sophomore Laurel Coito (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) was in the middle of Manhattanville's first two rallies: She reached base to lead off the third and came home on a two-out single from Buboi, and doubled with one out in the fifth before coming home on a two-out two-bagger from sophomore Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester).
 
Manhattanville added three more insurance runs in the sixth inning to build up its lead. Marino made it a 3-0 game with an RBI triple and then came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of classmate Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff). Freshman Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) added the final run with an RBI single, which was more than enough offense for Feeney.
 
GAME TWO
 
The second game of the night belonged to Orrico, who scattered seven hits and struck out eight for her first collegiate shutout in Manhattanville's 6-0 blanking of Potsdam.
 
The freshman buckled down in the early innings, stranding four runners in scoring position over the first three frames, before retiring nine of the next 10 batters in the next three innings. Her eight punchouts are the most by a Valiant pitcher this season.
 
Manhattanville got Orrico all the runs she would need in the bottom of the first inning when Ventarola walked with one out and then strolled home on Buboi's second homer of the year.
 
The Valiants added four more runs in the fourth inning to break the game open. Freshman Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) doubled home Marino to start the rally, followed by an RBI single from junior Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster). A groundout and a Potsdam error accounted for the final two runs.
 
The Valiants will have a very quick turnaround tomorrow, when Manhattanville completes its Spring Break trip with two games against The Sage Colleges and Haverford College at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively.