LEESBURG, Fla. – The #21 Manhattanville College softball team picked up its first sweep of the 2017 season on Tuesday at The Spring Games, as junior Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) and sophomore Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) combined to allow just one unearned run in a 9-0 win over Salve Regina University and a 2-1 (8 inn.) win over Fredonia State University.
 
The Valiant pitching staff led the way on Tuesday, as Feeney tossed a three-hit shutout in game one against the Seahawks and Hartenstein allowed only seven hits and one unearned run in eight innings versus the Blue Devils. Senior Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) was the team's top hitter, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, two runs batted in and three runs scored.
 
Game One – Manhattanville 9, Salve Regina 0 (5 inn.)
 
The Valiants made quick work of the Seahawks in the first game of the day, scoring four times in the second inning and never looking back in the 9-0 win. Sophomore Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) went 1-for-2 at the plate but still drove in a team-leading four runs, thanks to a three-run homer in the second. Diemicke and fellow senior Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) both had two hits and drove in two as well in the win.
 
Feeney (2-3) was in command in the circle, scattering only three hits and striking out five in the shutout, her second of the season and 14th of her career. In less than two seasons, Feeney is already tied with Alyssa Taylor '14 for second on the school's career shutouts list, behind only the 23 of Maggie Thomas '07.
 
Torres opened the scoring in the third, as her long ball scored Diemicke and Hartenstein. Sophomore Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) followed with an RBI double to give the Valiants a 4-0 lead after an inning and a half. Manhattanville got three more in the third on a two-run triple for Diemicke and a Torres sacrifice fly, and then reached the eight-run mark thanks to a two-run double for Marino with two outs in the fourth.
 
The Seahawks had their biggest threat of the morning in the second after a double, error and walk loaded the bases with no outs. But after Feeney induced an infield grounder for the first out, Torres grabbed a ball in front of the plate and tagged home before firing to first for an inning-ending double play.
 
Game Two – Manhattanville 2, Fredonia State 1 (8 inn.)
 
Manhattanville required some late magic to pull out a win in game two, scoring once in the seventh to stay alive and then walking off in the eighth to defeat Fredonia State.
 
After a two-out single by sophomore Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) in the first inning, Manhattanville went the next five innings without a hit. Hartenstein matched Fredonia's Sam Seegar zero-for-zero on the scoreboard until the seventh, when an error allowed the Blue Devils to take a 1-0 lead. The deficit would have been more if not for another excellent defensive play in right field by sophomore Alexa Grniet (Morristown, N.J./Morristown), who threw out a runner at the plate to end the inning.
 
Down to their last two outs of the game after a strikeout to lead off the seventh, Diemicke started a rally with a double. She was moved to third by a Hartenstein single and then, with two outs, Seegar threw wildly to first on a bunt from senior Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) to score Diemicke and extend the game.
 
With the international tiebreaker in place for the eighth, Hartenstein came up big in the circle, stranding two runners in scoring position by getting a lineout and two ground outs. With Chapelone placed on second in the bottom half, Grniet beat out a bunt single and Chapelone came home on a throwing error to give the Valiants the win.
 
Manhattanville will finish up its Spring Break trip with two more games tomorrow morning, as the Valiants take on Millsaps College at 8 a.m. and Plattsburgh State University at 10 a.m.