WEEHAWKEN, N.J. – The Manhattanville College softball team split Tuesday's doubleheader at Stevens Institute of Technology. After taking the opener 7-2, the Valiants fell in extra innings to the Ducks by a final of 8-7. At the end of the day, Manhattanville's record stands at 10-12 overall.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 7, Stevens 2
The Valiants scored five runs in the third inning to take Tuesday's opener as the bats of
Giovanna Liggett (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) and
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) hit three home runs to account for all the offense in the opener.
Melissa Lopez (Whittier, Calif./California) led off the third with a single before
Jayleen Torres (Downey, Calif./Downey) and
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) reached on singles of their own to load the bases with one away. In the ninth pitch of her at-bat, Liggett drilled the ball to dead center, clearing the fence with a grand slam, her fifth homer of the season. Two batters later, Harker hit a solo shot over the left field fence to put the Valiants up 5-0.
Harker continued to mash in the fifth, blasting a two run shot to left center to extend Manhattanville's lead to 7-0. The pair of long balls brings the junior's season total to four.
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) rolled in the circle with the run support, throwing a complete game to pick up her seventh win of the season. The junior surrendered just two hits and allowed two runs, only one earned on a solo home run in the sixth while striking out ten. Shinstine has now struck out 22 batters in her last two games.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 7, Stevens 8 (Eight Innings)
In a much more back-and-forth affair, Game Two saw five different lead changes before the Ducks walked it off in the eighth inning.
After Stevens plated a pair in the second, the Valiants tied the game in the third. It was Liggett once again coming up big, although this time the Ducks kept her in the park. The senior singled to center field to bring home Torres and
Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) with the tying runs. Manhattanville took the lead an inning later as
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) helped her own cause with the starting pitcher lacing a single to right field to plate Lopez.
The lead was short lived, as the Ducks plated three in the bottom half to reclaim the lead 5-3. The score would hold until the sixth when Mottoshiski once again delivered at the dish with a double to bring home Shinstine. Torres then brought home her pitcher and Lopez with a single to right ad Manhattanville went back on top 6-5.
The Ducks once again wasted no time to strike back, tying the game up in the bottom half. Mottoshiski would collect her third RBI of the night in the seventh with a bases loaded single to give herself a 7-6 lead heading into the final frame, but a Manhattanville error allowed the Ducks to plate the tying run and send the game to extras. After the Valiants were unable to score in the top of the eighth, Stevens used a sacrifice bunt to move the free runner to third before bringing her home one batter later to earn the split.
Despite all her work at the plate, Mottoshiski took the hard-fought loss in the circle, dropping to 2-4 on the year. The rookie ended the game with 7.2 innings pitched, allowing nine hits and eight runs (five earned) while striking out a pair. Manhattanville had five doubles in the game, tying their season high.
Up Next
It's back home for the Valiants this weekend, taking on Saint Joseph's (Brooklyn) for a Skyline doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday.
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