ITHACA, N.Y. – Freshman Ali Orduna (Orange, Calif./Villa Park) delivered a go-ahead double in the top of the seventh inning as third-seeded Manhattanville College rallied from three separate deficits to force the if-necessary game by stunning top-seeded and NFCA #21 Ithaca College, 6-5, in game six of the Ithaca, New York Regional of the NCAA Div. III Softball Championships, held at Ithaca's Doris Kostrinsky Field on Sunday afternoon.
 
With the victory, Manhattanville (27-15) forces the if-necessary game of the regional. The Valiants and Ithaca (30-10) will face off for the right to advance to the Super Regionals at approximately 2:45 p.m.
 
The Valiant bats finally woke up in the first game of the championship round, pounding out 14 hits against a trio of Ithaca pitchers. Graduate student Dolores Diemicke (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) had three hits while driving in a pair and scoring once, while Orduna reached base three times with the game-winning hit and a pair of walks. With her three hits, Diemicke tied Nicole Oliva '09 for the school's all-time hits record with 170.
 
In a see-saw battle that featured five lead changes in seven innings, Manhattanville came up with the final swing when down to its last at-bat. Diemicke started the rally by beating out an infield single, then stole second and was moved to third by a single from Jordyn Boyd (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) before scampering home on a wild pitch. Orduna then delivered the big blow, grounding a double just inside the third-base bag to put the Valiants ahead for good.
 
Senior Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) closed things out in the bottom of the seventh, getting three harmless fly outs to secure her 16th win of the year. Feeney allowed three earned runs on six hits in the victory.
 
Manhattanville was patient at the plate against Ithaca's Haley Congdon to start the contest, seeing 21 pitches in the first inning and more than 40 over the first two frames. The patience paid off in the third, when freshman Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) walked with one out and came all the way around on a double from junior Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) with two outs to tie the score. Diemicke then followed by lacing a ball off the top of the wall in left-center, scoring Buboi to put the visitors ahead and end Congdon's day.
 
The Bombers climbed back on top with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth, but the Valiants responded in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double from Diemicke to tie the score at three.
 
The visitors went back ahead for a second time in the top of the sixth with another clutch two-out base hit, as senior Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) delivered a single up the middle to score Boyd with the go-ahead run. But the see-saw battle continued in the bottom half, when Ithaca scored on a squeeze and a two-out double to take a 5-4 lead into the seventh stanza.
 
However, the Valiants had one more rally in them in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for a winner-take-all regional final.