PURCHASE, N.Y – The Manhattanville College softball team won a pair of shortened games on Saturday, sweeping the visiting Saint Joseph's College (Brooklyn). The wins get the Valiants back up to .500 for the first time since the opening weekend of the season, improving to 12-12 on the year at 7-1 in Skyline Conference play.

Game One Recap: Manhattanville 10, Saint Joseph's 2 (Five Innings)
The Valiants plated 10 runs across the third and fourth innings while Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) once again dazzled in the circle as Manhattanville took the opener via run rule in five innings.

Shinstine improved to 8-8 on the season with yet another complete game effort. The junior starter tossed a full five innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs on three hits and three walks while striking out seven.

While Shinstine did keep the Bears bats in check, Saint Joseph's did get on the board first, as a Manhattanville error in the third allowed Alexis Buchanan to deliver a two run knock for the visitors.

The Valiants picked up their pitcher in the bottom half, scoring four runs on five hits. With runners on second and third and one away, Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) dropped a single into right field to bring home Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) with Manhattanville's first run of the game. Giovanna Liggett (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) then provided the big hit, smacking a home run to right center to score three more. The deep fly was the senior's team-leading sixth of the year.

The bats continued to roll in the fifth as Manhattanville plated six more runs. With the bases loaded, Walsh drove in a run, albeit in a painful way, after getting hit by a pitch to score Melissa Lopez (Whittier, Calif./California). Already with one clutch hit on the afternoon, Liggett delivered again, singling to right field to score Jayleen Torres (Downey, Calif./Downey) and Mottoshiski. Amaya Esparza (Descansco, Calif./Granite Hills) drove home Walsh with a single through the left side before Shinstine helped herself out two batters later with a two run single, putting the Valiants up 10-2.

The Bears hit a leadoff single in the fifth, but Shinstine retired the next three batters to snuff out any rally attempt and take the first game of the day.

Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 4, Saint Joseph's 0 (Five Innings)
The backend of the doubleheader also featured an abbreviated contest, although this time as a result of a fifth-inning downpour that left the field in unplayable conditions.

Mottoshiski took the ball for Game Two, pitching a strong five inning outing. The rookie held the Bears scoreless on five hits and a pair of walks, striking out three.
Mottoshiski would put herself in line for the win in the second inning, stepping up to the plate with the bases loaded. The Craryville, N.Y. native laced the ball into right field to bring home Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) and Esparza with the first two runs of the game.

It would turn out that those two runs would ultimately be all that Mottoshiski would need as rain clouds moved in during the fifth inning. The light drizzle turned heavy as the inning progressed, with the Bears being held off the scoreboard after a single and a walk in the top of the fifth. The Valiants added two more in the bottom half of the inning as Esparza and Coleman hit back-to-back doubles into the rain-soaked outfield to plate Liggett before Shinstine lined a ball right back up the middle to bring home Coleman. Saint Joseph's would escape the inning with just the two runs crossing, but after the field had already been hammered by rain last night into this morning, the second storm left the field unsuitable to continue the game. The contest became official after the top of the fifth, giving the Valiants the sweep.

Up Next
The Valiants are scheduled to play again tomorrow against Sarah Lawrence, with the Gryphons serving as the home team at the Manhattanville Softball Field. First pitch is scheduled for noon.

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