PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore
Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs and senior
Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) recorded three hits on Senior Day to lead the #21 Manhattanville College softball team to a 8-0 (5 inn.) and 7-2 sweep of Eastern University in the teams' MAC Freedom finale on Saturday afternoon at Manhattanville Field.
With the two wins, Manhattanville (34-2, 13-1 MAC Freedom) sets a new school all-sport record with its 33rd and 34th victories of the season. The Valiants hit five more home runs on the day to run its Division III-leading total to 60, moving the Valiants into a tie for eighth place on the NCAA Div. III single-season list.
Freshman
Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) also went 3-for-7 and had a hit in both games, in the process setting a new program record with a 19-game hitting streak. The freshman has at least one hit in 35 of the team's 36 games this season.
GAME ONE
Ventarola and freshman
Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) led a 13-hit attack from the top of the order, with both players going 3-for-3 with a homer in an 8-0 win.
Chapelone also scored a game-high three runs and drove in one, while Ventarola drove in three and also scored twice. Buboi and fellow freshman
Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) homered as well in the victory.
After sophomore
Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) left the bases loaded in the top of the first, Manhattanville promptly scored four in the bottom half against Haleigh Williams to take the lead. Chapelone started off with a single and came home on a Ventarola long ball, and Buboi then made it back-to-back homers with her team-best 12th of the year. Hartenstein added a third homer of the inning to put the home team up by four after one.
The combo of Chapelone and Ventarola struck again in the second, with a leadoff double by the freshman followed by an RBI single from the sophomore. Hartenstein added a run-scoring double later in the inning, and Chapelone then launched the fourth homer of the game in the third to make it a 7-0 score after three frames.
Manhattanville's lone senior ended the game early on Senior Day, as Scapperotti followed a triple from junior
Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) with an infield single to plate the eighth and final run in the fifth.
Feeney (18-2) earned her eighth shutout of the year with another efficient effort, scattering six hits and striking out four.
GAME TWO
Manhattanville jumped out early in game two as well, scoring six times in the first three innings on the way to a 7-2 win.
The middle of the order did the damage for Manhattanville in game two, as Hartenstein, junior
Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) and freshman
Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) combined for six hits and six runs batted in. All three players went 2 for 3 and drove in two runs, while Marino also scored two runs as well.
The Valiants again got ahead early in the second game, scoring two times in the bottom of the first. Marino added to her program record with an RBI double to score Chapelone, and Hartenstein followed with a run-scoring triple to put Manhattanville up 2-0 after one.
Manhattanville added four more in the third inning to take a comfortable 6-0 lead. Marino and Hartenstein drove in runs with back-to-back doubles, and then Torres sent a two-run homer off the tree in left field to complete the frame. Buboi extended her hitting streak to 19 games with a fourth-inning double, which also provided Manhattanville's final run of the game.
Freshman
Julianna Orrico (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) remained perfect on the season, allowing two runs on five hits in the seven-inning complete-game win to move to 11-0.
Tomorrow's scheduled non-conference doubleheader against Western Connecticut State University has been postponed due to inpending weather. Manhattanville will begin postseason play next weekend at the MAC Freedom Tournament; check GoValiants.com this week for a full tournament preview and schedule.
