PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College softball team scored a combined 35 runs in a pair of five-inning Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victories over Eastern University Wednesday, March 27. The Valiants were the road team in both contests, but the games were hosted at the Manhattanville Softball Field due to construction on Eastern's facility.
 
The Valiants (14-0, 4-0 MACF), ranked No. 12 in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top 25 poll, continued to rake offensively en route to two more conference wins while their pitching allowed just one unearned run on seven hits in 10 innings of play against the Eagles (3-13, 0-4 MACF). Graduate student Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) got her fifth win of the season in game one, going all five innings and allowing just two hits, a pair of walks and striking out five. She also registered three at-bats on the day – her first since 2016 – and picked up a hit, an RBI and a walk in game two. Senior Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) got the start in the second game and went 4.0 innings with three strikeouts and allowed three hits for her sixth win of the season.
 
Game 1
Senior Desiree Buboi (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) started things off quick with one out in the top of the first as the second baseman knocked a two-run homer to left to plate herself and rookie Giovanna Liggett (Fountain Valley, Calif./Edison) and make it 2-0. The Valiants came back to score four more in the top of the second thanks to a bases loaded one-out walk drawn by sophomore Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) and a three-run single from Liggett the following at-bat.
 
Manhattanville finished up its game one offense in the top of the third beginning with graduate student Alexis Ventarola's (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) 19th-career home run, a three-run shot to left center to make it 9-0. Buboi struck next with a two-out single to center to place Casillas, followed by senior Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) reaching on an error by the Eagle centerfielder that allowed another two runs to score to make it 12-0.
 
Game 2
The bottom half began with a six-run explosion in the top of the first for the Valiants. Casillas reached on a leadoff double and Liggett brought her home with an RBI double to center. After the rookie advanced to third on a passed ball, Buboi brought her home with a sac fly to center. With one out, Torres cracked a double down the third base line and Hartenstein followed with an RBI double to right center. The next batter, sophomore Jordyn Boyd (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville), then knocked in Hartenstein with a one-run single to left. With two outs and runners on the corners, sophomore Brooke Franson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) hit a bases-clearing triple to right center for a pair of RBIs.
 
Manhattanville put one more on the board when Torres hit her fifth home run of the season, a solo shot, to make it 7-0 in the top of the second. The Valiants scored a whopping seven in the third to put the game out of reach. Boyd led off with a solo home run and then with two outs, Buboi hit a two-run single to score Casillas and Franson. Hartenstein put an exclamation point on the inning with a grand slam to right center – her fifth homer of the season – to make it 14-0. Manhattanville scratched two more across in the fourth thanks to a wild pitch that scored rookie Julia Bucci (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook) from third and a one-run two-out double from sophomore Ali Orduna (Orange, Calif./Villa Park).
 
In the top of the fifth, Feeney led off and collected her first career hit. Hartenstein and junior Steph Muller (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) followed suit with singles of their own to load the bases before Bucci stepped to the plate once again. The rookie shortstop cracked her first-collegiate home run – a grand slam – to make it 20-0. Junior Jessaca Delgado (Whittier, Calif./El Rancho) later came up with a RBI single before Feeney made it 22-0 with a bases loaded walk for her first-career RBI. Sophomore Jasmine Feliciano (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) followed up with a bases loaded walk of her own for her first-career RBI as well to make it 23-0 before staying in the game to pitch the bottom of the fifth to complete the 23-1 win.
 
The Valiants will return to action for a pair of home doubleheaders this weekend. First, Manhattanville hosts Delaware Valley University in a pair of MAC Freedom games Saturday afternoon, March 30, with game one scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. Then the Valiants host a very tough non-conference opponent in No. 10 Ithaca College for a Sunday afternoon, March 31, beginning at 12:00 p.m.