THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. – The Manhattanville College softball team picked up a pair of victories Sunday, March 10, as the Valiants began their 2019 campaign on the road in California. Manhattanville defeated California Lutheran University 7-3 in game one, followed by a 12-7 victory over the hometown Regals in game two.
 
The Valiants (2-0) entered the day ranked No. 21 in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top 25 poll, and played like it.
 
Game One
A pair of graduate students led Manhattanville to victory in the top half of the doubleheader as pitcher Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) picked up her first win of the season, and 61st of her career. She went 6.0 innings and allowed three earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. Classmate Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) did some damage at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base against Cal Lutheran (3-7).
 
The scoring starting quickly in the top of first as the Valiants plated a pair thanks to a one-out two-run single to left from senior catcher Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) off a rattled CLU pitcher who had just allowed senior Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) to reach on an error at short. Feeney walked one and gave up single in the bottom half, but kept the score at 2-0.
 
The Valiants took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second following a solid couple of plays from Ventarola to manufacture a run. The grad student led off with a double to center and then, during the next at-bat with sophomore Brooke Franson's (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) at the plate, Ventarola stole third base. The throw by the Regal catcher got away from third base and Ventalora was able to cross home plate. Feeney settled in with three up and three down in the bottom of the second.
 
Manhattanville plated three in the top of the third to take a commanding 6-0 lead. With two out and runners on first and second, senior shortstop Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) knocked in rookie Giovanna Liggett (Fountain Valley, Calif./Edison) from second. Ventaralo then stepped to the plate to runners on first and second as well before smacking a double to left center to score Chapelone and Torres. Feeney followed with another three-up, three-down inning in the bottom half.
 
The Valiants scored their final run of the game when sophomore Jordyn Boyd (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) flied out to right as sophomore Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) scored from third. Feeney's only tough inning came when Cal Lutheran scored three on a pair of solo homers and an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. The grad student got out of the inning with no further damage, however, and went on to pitch scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth before sophomore Jasmine Felciano faced the minimum on the top of the seventh and struck out one to seal the win.
 
Game Two
The second game of the doubleheader was a much higher-scoring affair for the two squads as the Valiants picked up the five-run victory. Senior Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) got the start for Manhattanville, but it wasn't her day as she was chased after 1.1 innings. Feliciano came on in relief and continued her strong performance from the end of the first game and went 5.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts for the second win of her career.
 
Torres and Hartenstein each registered RBIs in the top of the first and the Valiants once again took a 2-0 lead after the one half inning of play. The Regals came back to tie it with a two-RBI triple in the home half and it was knotted at 2-2 entering the second. The Valiants were unable to get anything going in the second, while Cal Lutheran plated three more in the bottom of the inning and led Manhattanville 5-2.
 
Boyd began to go off in game two. The sophomore led off the top of the third with a solo shot and it was quickly 5-3. Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded and rookie Jessi Alvarado (Norwalk, Calif./Gahr) at the plate, the Regals' pitcher let go a wild pitch and Buboi was able to score from third to make it 5-4. The bottom half of the inning was a tricky one for Feliciano, as Cal Lutheran also loaded the bases with two outs, but she was able to escape unscathed by stranding three with a popup to third.
 
In the top of the fourth, Buboi was able to tie the game at 5-5 with a two-out RBI single to right that plated rookie Maddie Saunders (Oxnard, Calif./Santa Clara). From that point forward, neither team was able to scratch out a run until top of the sixth when Manhattanville scored a pair. Buboi grabbed the first RBI on a sacrifice fly to center, followed by an RBI double from Torres. Feliciano's only blemish on the day came from a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.
 
It was not an issue, though, as the Valiants exploded for five more in the top of the seventh when Boyd knocked a two-run single through the left side to plate Ventarola and Franson. Buboi followed up with an RBI double to left center to score Casillas from second. The half inning and scoring for the game ended as Liggett hit a two-run single to right to plate Buboi and Boyd, but was thrown out trying stretch it to second.
 
Manhattanville will take a day off during this West Coast trip before returning to the field Tuesday afternoon, March 12, for a doubleheader in Redlands, Calif., at the University of the Redlands. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. PST.