RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- The Manhattanville College softball team, ranked No. 17 in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), closed out its season-opening West Coast swing Thursday, March 14, with a pair of victories over La Sierra University by scores of 11-7 and 10-1, with the latter game finishing in five innings.

Game One
Senior Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) dominated at the plate for the Valiants (8-0) in the top half of the doubleheader against the Golden Eagles (6-10). The middle infielder ­went 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs, four RBIs and two runs scored. In the circle, sophomore Jasmine Feliciano (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) came on in relief and pitched 4.2 innings to register her second victory of the season. She allowed just one run on six hits with a strikeout.
 
Things started quickly in the top of the first for Manhattanville. Buboi notched an RBI single to kick if off, followed by a one-out RBI single from senior Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer). Later in the inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, sophomore Brooke Franson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) launched a two-run double over the centerfielder's head to put the Valiants up 4-0.
 
La Sierra got one back in the bottom half, but Manhattanville put up another three runs in the top of the second thanks to a solo shot from Buboi to left with one out, followed by a two-out two-run home run by senior Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and it was now 7-1 Valiants. The Golden Eagles scratched one ore across in the home half, and things remained 7-2 until a huge bottom of the third for the home team as La Sierra manufactured five runs to tie the game up at 7-7.
 
Neither team made any noise offensively until the top of the seventh inning. The Valiants scored four runs to seal the victory and take game one. Graduate student Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) plated Franson with a one-out RBI single for the eventual game-winning run. Eventually, Ventarola would score with two outs thanks to an RBI double to center from rookie Giovanna Liggett (Fountain Valley, Calif./Edison). Buboi capped off the inning with a two-run shot to left to make it 11-7.
 
Game Two
In a much more lopsided affair, Hartenstein picked up her fourth victory of the season in 4.0 shutout innings. She allowed just four hits and struck out four. Liggett, Hartenstein and senior Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) led the way offensively in the nightcap. The rookie Liggett made the start at third and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and her first-career home run. Hartenstein was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a home run. Chapelone was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored a double and a stolen base.
 
Manhattanville started off the game with an exclamation point. Sophomore Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) led off the top of the first with a double, and then Liggett launched her first collegiate home run to quickly make it 2-0. Junior Samantha Jedrey (La Canada Flintridge, Calif./La Canada) made it 3-0 with one-out RBI single to left, followed by a two-run double from Chapelone. After a Golden Eagle pitching change, Ventarola welcomed the new hurler to the circle with an RBI double to left-center. Ventarola stole third during the next at-bat, while Franson then reached on a walk. She then stole second and the Valiants now how two runners in scoring position with just one out. Ventarola scored on a groundout and Franson eventually reached home thanks to an RBI single from Liggett as Manhattanville batted around.
 
Still up 8-0, neither team had any offensive until the top of the four when Hartenstein launched her solo shot to left with two outs to make it 9-0. Rookie Julia Bucci (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook) was the next Valiants to record an RBI, this time in the top of the fifth with an infield single to plate Chapelone to make it 10-0. In order to avoid the eight-run rule and push play past five innings. The Golden Eagles needed at least three runs in the home half, but managed just one and the Valiants came away with the nine-run win.
 
Manhattanville will now return home for its next game action. The Valiants will host Albertus Magnus College in their home opener for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday, March 20, at the Manhattanville Softball Field in Purchase, N.Y.