COLUMBUS, Ga. – Officially getting the season underway in Georgia, the Manhattanville College softball team split its opening doubleheader on Friday afternoon as part of the first day of the NFCA DIII Leadoff Classic. The Valiants picked up a 4-1 win over Roe College in the team's first action of the season before falling to Linfield University by a final of 16-8 in six innings later on in the day.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 4, Roe 1
The Valiants received a masterful pitching performance in the opener from
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy). After her 9-4 season a year ago where she sported a 1.81 ERA, the junior tossed a complete game while allowing just one hit and giving up an unearned run. The Roe batters struggled all morning, striking out 18 times against the California native. Although Shinstine found herself in trouble in the early going after a pair of leadoff walks and a double steal put runners on second and third with nobody away in the first, Shinstine shrugged off the pressure and struck out the next three Kohawks that came to the plate to retire the side. The Manhattanville pitcher would go on to strike out 12 consecutive batters.
After tight roping out of danger in the first, the Valiants struck in the bottom half of the inning. After two quick outs,
Giovanna Liggett (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) reached on an error. Manhattanville capitalized on the extra chance as
Amaya Esparza (Descansco, Calif./Granite Hills) singled and
Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) walked to draw the bases loaded.
Taylor Baumann (Merrick, N.Y./Calhoun) followed that up with a walk of her own to bring in the first run of the day. The Kohawks commited their second error of the inning in the following at bat, allowing Coleman and Esparza to come around and score.
The Valiants added a run in the third after
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) hit a leadoff triple and was driven home by a Liggett single in the next at-bat. Coe was able to break up the shutout in the fifth after Keera Ball reached on an error to open up the frame, ultimately coming around to score on a sacrifice fly. With runners on second and third and the tying run coming up to the plate, Shinstine got a pop up and a strikeout to end the threat. The last six Coe batters of the game were successfully retired, five via punchout, as the Valiants secured the win.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 8, Linfield 16 (6 Innings)
After a pitching duel in the opener, it was an offensive slugfest in game two of the Leadoff Classic as the Valiants were unable to overcome an eight-run first by Linfield. After Manhattanville was turned away scoreless in the top half of the inning, the Wildcats sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom half, drawing five walks. Linfield made the most of the free passes by causing havoc on the basepaths, stealing five bases in the inning alone and tagging
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) for eight runs. The Wildcats would add two more runs in the second to put the Valiants in a 10-0 hole.
Manhattanville would get on the board in the third after a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Coleman hit a sacrifice fly to score Harker before
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) and Baumann hit back-to-back RBI singles. The Wildcats, however, wasted no time getting those runs back with another three spot in the bottom half of the frame.
The Valiants hung five runs in the fifth as the Valiants capitalized on three Wildcat errors and an wild pitch.
Melissa Lopez (Whittier, Calif./California) drove home a pair on an error by Linfield's Kamryn Mobley. It was a rough inning for the Wildcat third baseman, as Mobley committed another error on a ball put into play by Harker that allowed another two runs to score. Esparza hit a single into right field to bring Liggett to the plate and bring the Valiants back into the game, cutting Linfield's lead down to 13-8.
Manhattanville would be unable to get any closer before the Wildcats scored three runs in the sixth to enact the run rule and bring an early end to the contest. A two-out RBI single by Katie Phillips put Linfield up 14-8 before Katrina Johns lined a single to center field two batters later to score a pair and bring an end to the game.
Up Next
The Valiants are back in action for Day Two of the NFCA Leadoff Classic tomorrow, taking on Central College at 2:30 p.m. before meeting Transylvania University at 4:30 p.m.
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