VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – It was another tough day offensively for the #6 Manhattanville College softball team on Saturday, as the Valiants managed only eight hits in a 3-1 loss to #10 Rowan University and a 3-0 defeat to #11 Virginia Wesleyan College on the second and final day of the VWC Beach Blast, held at the Princess Anne Athletic Complex.
 
Game One - #10 Rowan 3, #6 Manhattanville 1
 
Manhattanville got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning, but that was it offensively for the Valiants and Rowan managed single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to scratch out a 3-1 win.
 
The first inning started promisingly for the Valiants, as sophomore Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) smoked a double to left center on the second pitch. She was sacrificed to third by junior Laurel Coito (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) and then came home on a wild pitch to put the Valiants up 1-0 after one inning.
 
Rowan evened the score on a two-out double from Rachel Breuninger in the top of the fourth, and then got a run-scoring single from Carly Anderson in the fifth to take its first lead of the game. Profs pitcher Jesse DeDomenico helped her own cause in the sixth with an RBI single to give herself a two-run cushion.
 
Junior Alicia Feeney suffered her first loss of the year, ceding all three runs (two earned) on eight hits in seven innings. DeDomenico allowed only one run on three hits and worked around six walks to pick up the win.
 
Game Two – #11 Virginia Wesleyan 3, #6 Manhattanville 0
 
Manhattanville was stifled again in the second game of the day, as Virginia Wesleyan's Hanna Hull tossed a five-hit shutout in the Marlins' 3-0 win. Again it was the middle innings that did the Valiants in against the Marlins, as single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth were enough to send the team to a loss.
 
Defense kept the Valiants in the game early, including a pair of spectacular defensive efforts in the second inning. Coito absolutely robbed Hull of a homer to lead off the inning, as she tumbled over the temporary fencing in left field to snag a line drive and take a run off the board. Sophomore Alexa Grniet (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) ended the inning with a highlight-reel play as well, laying out for a full-extension grab of a Jessica Lindsay foul fly in right field.
 
The visitors had their best chance to score right after those plays, as senior Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) worked a 10-pitch at-bat to lead off the third inning that eventually finished with a triple to left field. But the Valiants could not get her home, as two pop outs and a strikeout quelled the threat.
 
Another diving catch by Grniet started a double play that put the Valiants in good position in the fourth inning, but a two-out rally got the Marlins on the board first thanks to a walk, a single and an RBI base hit from Lindsay. VWC added a run in the fifth on a Cassetty Howerin single.

The Valiants threatened again in the sixth after back-to-back singles from senior Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) and Chapelone, but again could not get the big hit when needed to get back in the game.
 
Sophomore Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) got the start for the Valiants, dropping her first decision of the year by allowing all three runs on eight hits in six innings. Hull (6-0) struck out nine and walked none to earn the win.
 
The Valiants look to get back on the right track next weekend when the team travels south for Spring Break, beginning with two games against the College of Saint Benedict and Bates College on March 11.