PURCHASE, N.Y. – Following a huge 13-7 comeback win in the first game of the day, the Manhattanville College softball team had to settle for a split with Western Connecticut State University after dropping game two, 9-3, in a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday afternoon at Manhattanville Field.
 
Game 1: Manhattanville 13, Western Connecticut State 7
 
Manhattanville spotted Western Connecticut a six-run lead over the first two innings before storming back in the latter stages, scoring six times in the fifth and then seven times in the sixth to pick up the come-from-behind victory.
 
Senior Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) had only one hit but made it count, a three-run homer that tied the game in the fifth. Classmate Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) had two hits, drove in three and scored twice, while sophomore Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) also had a pair of hits, scored twice and drove in two.
 
WCSU jumped all over junior Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster), who allowed six runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings, the shortest start of her career. The Colonials mustered six hits in a five-run first inning, with the big blow coming on a long two-run homer off the bat of Sofia Palacios. The visitors got one more in the second when Alexandra LaFemina scored on a designed steal attempt by Charline Plasczynski that resulted in a run-down.
 
Down by six, sophomore Kristyn Pareres (Bronxville, N.Y./The Ursuline School) entered in relief before Plasczynski's steal attempt and shut the door on the Colonials over the next four innings, allowing her team to mount a comeback. Pareres set down 12 batters in a row at one point to keep her team in the game.
 
That pitching was rewarded in the fifth, when the Valiant offense finally broke through with six runs, all coming with two outs. Torres got the home team on the board with a two-run single, followed by a run-scoring base hit from Marino to make it a 6-3 game. Then Diemicke launched her sixth homer of the year over the fence to tie the game at six.
 
After Pareres set the Colonials down in order in the top of the sixth, Manhattanville came back to bat and put up seven more, again all coming with two outs. Sophomore Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) singled to put the home team ahead, and Marino followed with a key two-run double. RBI base hits from sophomore Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and senior Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) also followed later in the frame, as the Valiants took a 13-6 lead into the seventh.
 
Pareres allowed an unearned run in the seventh but still finished things off to pick up her first win of the year. She finished her 5.1 innings of relief by allowing only one unearned run on four hits and three strikeouts.
 
Game 2: Western Connecticut State 9, Manhattanville 3
 
It was the visitors' turn to pull out some late-game magic in game two, as the Colonials scored five times in the sixth and three more times in the seventh to erase a two-run deficit and take a 9-3 victory.
 
Hartenstein and WestConn's Jaclyn Smith traded zeroes over the first three innings, with both pitchers allowing only one hit through three. The Colonials struck first in the top of the fourth on a Plasczynski RBI single, but the Valiants came back with two in the bottom half thanks to an RBI single from sophomore Alexa Grniet (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Sam Jedrey (La Canada Flintridge, Calif./La Canada). The home team tacked on one more in the fourth on a Colonial error.
 
However, the sixth inning proved to be pivotal again, as five Colonials crossed the plate to give the visitors the lead for good. Plasczynski again had a big hit with a two-run single that tied the score, and Michaela Damore put her team ahead with a two-run double. WSCU added three more insurance runs in the seventh as well to put the game out of reach.
 
Hartenstein (8-3) took the loss for Manhattanville, allowing all nine runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings before Pareres came on to allow one hit in two-thirds of an inning. Angelina Miller (6-6) earned the win in relief for Western Connecticut, ceding only one unearned run on three hits in 3.2 innings of work.
 
After a day off tomorrow, Manhattanville will finish the regular season with a busy weekend that starts on Saturday with a MAC Freedom twinbill at Wilkes University.