REDLANDS, CALIF. – The Manhattanville College softball team, ranked No. 21 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top 25 poll, bested the University of Redlands Bulldogs in a pair today, Tuesday, March 12. The Valiants defeated Redlands 5-0 in game one, followed by an eight-inning 3-2 win in game two.
 
Game One
Manhattanville (4-0) was led by graduate student pitcher Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) in the first half of the day. She dominated Redlands' (6-12) hitters all afternoon and gave up just three hits and allowed three walks in seven shutout innings for her second victory in as many days.
 
Neither squad was able to scratch out a run in the first inning, but senior catcher Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) crossed home plate on an error by the Bulldog leftfielder in the top of the second in a bases loaded, no out situation – that would be all Feeney needed to take the win. However, Manhattanville mustered three more runs that inning thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly in foul ground from sophomore Brooke Franson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) and a two-run single up the middle from fellow sophomore Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake).
 
Things remained quiet over the next three and a half, with no runs scored on either side, before the Valiants scored the final run of the game in the top of the sixth when Torres cranked her first long bomb of the season, a solo shot to left to make it 5-0.
 
Game Two
The nightcap heavily featured senior pitcher Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and needed an extra inning to get a decision. Inside the circle, she went a full 8.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs while sending down three Bulldog batters to pick up her first win of the season. At the plate, Hartenstein was 3-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run.
 
Much like game one, neither team was able to put up any offense in the first inning. To start the second, Hartenstein led off the top half and the senior launched her first home run of the season to put the Valiants up 1-0. The score remained that way all the way through to the top of the fifth inning when Manhattanville scored one more run to make it 2-0. With the pinch runner Casillas on second following a double by rookie Maddie Saunders (Oxnard, Calif./Santa Clara), sophomore Jordyn Boyd (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) was able to knock a double of her own to left center for the RBI.
 
With the Valiants up 2-0, Redlands found themselves in a do-or-die situation with runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the seventh. The Bulldogs managed a two-run single off Hartenstein to tie it up at 2-2 to force extra innings. With one out and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, junior Samantha Jedrey (La Canada Flintridge, Calif./La Canada) flied out to left for the sacrifice and Boyd – the Valiant who started the inning as a baserunner on second – scored to put Manhattanville up 3-2.
 
With his team clinging to a one-run lead, head coach Dale Martin stuck with Hartenstein in the bottom of the eighth and the senior repaid his confidence by sending the Bulldogs down in order to seal her first victory of the year.
 
Manhattanville continues its early-season West Coast swing tomorrow, Wednesday, March 13, with a doubleheader in Los Angeles, Calif., at Occidental College. Game one begins at 3:00 p.m. EST.