PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College softball team rebounded from a split yesterday with a doubleheader sweep at home over non-conference foe Western Connecticut State University Sunday afternoon, April 14.
Senior
Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) led the Valiants (27-2) from the circle in game one against the Colonials (14-10) with 7.0 innings, no earned runs and six strikeouts for her 13th victory of the season while also going 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored. In game two, graduate student
Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) was 3-for-4 with four RBI, including a second-inning three run home run and a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh.
Game 1
Manhattanville fell behind early following a one-out error in the top of the second. WestConn scored first on a one-out single up the middle with the bases loaded, but the bleeding was stopped the following at-bat thanks to a stellar play by senior shortstop
Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) to start a 6-3-5 double play to allow just one more run to score and end the half inning at 2-0 in favor of the Colonials.
In the bottom of the second, the Valiants jumped all over WestConn to take a lead it would not relinquish. With one out and runners on the corners, Ventarola hit a sacrifice fly to right to plate Hartenstein. Sophomore
Isela Casillas (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake) was next to contribute, notching an RBI single to left to place classmate Jordy Boyd from third and tie it at 2-2. Rookie
Giovanna Liggett (Fountain Valley, Calif./Edison) immediately followed with a two-run single to center and make it 4-2.
Manhattanville score two more in the bottom of the third. Hartenstein began with a single up the middle to plate senior
Evonne Torres (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Pioneer) from second after the catcher reached on a single through the left side and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a Colonial pitching change, Chapelone collected an RBI with a groundout to second to plate Hartenstein. For good measure, the Valiants tacked one more run on in the bottom of the fifth as Chapelone notched another RBI with a single to left to plate junior
Steph Muller (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) from third.
Game 2
For the first inning and a half, the game remained scoreless before the bottom of the second. With two outs and runners on first and second, Ventarola blasted a long ball of the centerfield fence to make it 3-0. Sophomore
Brooke Franson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) doubled the next at-bat and was brought home by Cassilas' RBI single. The Valiants took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third after Boyd sent a single to right to plate Hartenstein.
WestConn came back in the next half inning with four runs of its own to make it 5-4 and the score remained that way until the top of the sixth inning. The Colonials scored another run then following a steal and an errant pickoff attempt that allowed the runner from third to score and make it 5-5.
The game remained tied until the home half of the seventh when Ventarola stepped up to bat with two outs and runners on first and second. She took the first pitch of the at-bat and sent it up the middle for the walk-off double and victory.
Manhattanville returns to action this Tuesday afternoon, April 16, for another non-conference doubleheader at home versus future Skyline Conference opponent Mount Saint March College. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
