WHITTIER, Calif. -- It was another doubleheader split for Manhattanville softball on Monday in California as the Valiants took a game from Whittier College to begin the new week. The Valiants would win a 2-0 pitcher's duel in the opener before falling 11-3 in five innings in the series finale to move to 2-2 on the season.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 2, Whittier 0
A pitching duel opened up the day in Whittier as a scoreless affair carried into the sixth inning.
Having collected just three base hits across the first five innings, the Valiants were able to string some hits together off of Jamie Garvey.
Jayleen Torres (Bellflower, Calif./Downey) opened up the inning with a leadoff double before stealing third, just the second time in the game the Valiants had a runner reach third base. Two batters later,
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) delivered with an RBI single to center to plate the game's first run. The senior Harker would be chased home in the ensuing at bat as
Amaya Esparza (Descanso, Calif./Granite Hills) found the gap in right center with a double, putting Manhattanville up 2-0.
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) was back in the circle for the opener as she put together another strong performance. After logging 17 strikeouts across the pair of games yesterday against Cal Lutheran, the senior pitched more to contact against the Poets in Monday's first contest. Shinstine induced 11 ground outs and six fly outs while punching out two. She needed just 83 pitches to go the distance and collect her second win in as many days.
Shinstine worked around an error in the sixth to strand a Poet base runner at second, while in the seventh she erased a leadoff base hit by Maya Palos by getting a ground ball double play. Lindsey Perry kept the game alive with a two out knock, but an easy fly ball to center was tracked down by Harker to record the final out.
Harker had the most effective performance at the plate in Game One, going 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and a run scored.
Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary) and
Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) also added base hits in the win.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 3, Whittier 11 (Five Innings)
The Poets bounced back from being shutout in the opener to taking Game Two in five innings via run rule, hanging seven runs on the board in the fourth inning to take a commanding lead.
Whittier got on the board first in the second off a Melissa Carrasco RBI single before Marissa Flynn hit a three run homer in the third to put the home team up 4-0.
The Valiants plated their first run of Monday's finale off a Parkes sacrifice fly that brought home Harker in the fourth. The Poets went right back to work in the bottom half, loading the bases on a pair of singles and an error. Lucy Brooks cashed in with the ducks on the pond with a two run single, putting Whittier up 5-1 and prompting the Valiants to make a pitching change.
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) would finish with three-plus innings in the start, allowing nine runs on six hits and a walk while striking out one.
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) took over pitching duties to close out the inning as the sophomore would be tagged for two runs (one earned) before the Valiants would finally get out of the inning, down 11-1.
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the Valiants, her first collegiate deep fly, but it would not be enough for Manhattanville to avoid the loss via run rule, bringing an end to the game with an 11-3 final in five innings.
Up Next
The Valiants will have an off-day tomorrow before heading to La Verne on Wednesday for a doubleheader against the University of La Verne Leopards starting at 6 p.m. EST.
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