WAYNE, N.J. – The Manhattanville College softball team pushed their winning streak up to 16 straight games on Thursday, sweeping a doubleheader at William Paterson. The Valiants improve to 20-4 overall with the wins, remaining undefeated since the conclusion of the team's Spring Break trip to California on Mar. 9.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 3, William Paterson 1
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) worked around five walks in the circle while the Valiant bats delivered some crucial late-inning hits to earn the win in the opener.
A scoreless affair through the first four innings, the Valiants finally broke through in the fifth. After
Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) reached on a lead-off single,
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) drove a double to center field to bring her classmate home with the first run of the game. Reyer would advance to third on a passed ball, but a pair of flyouts kept her stranded there.
Manhattanville added some much-needed insurance runs an inning later. After
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) and
Amaya Esparza (Descanso, Calif./Granite Hills) reached on back-to-back one-out singles,
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) doubled to left to plate Harker. One batter later, Esparza raced home on a sacrifice fly off Brooks' bat to put the Valiants up 3-0.
Shinstine held the Pioneers scoreless through the first five innings, allowing just two hits. The Valiant ace did have some trouble with finding the zone as she issued a season-high five free passes with all of the walks coming across the first five innings. Still, despite William Paterson getting baserunners throughout the day, Shinstine was able to settle down and navigate the traffic on the basepaths to keep the bats in check.
The Pioneers would ultimately get to Shinstine in the sixth as a Jasmine Vera delivered a leadoff single and came around to score on a Hailey Backo double. That would be all for William Paterson in the contest, as Shinstine recorded her ninth strikeout of the game to end the inning before closing out the seventh with just one harmless hit allowed.
Shinstine improves to 12-0 on the year with the victory as her ERA moves to 0.84.
Harker, Esparza and Walsh each had a pair of hits in the opener.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 4, William Paterson 3
The Pioneers got off to a quick start in the finale with a pair of runs in the first. A walk and pair of singles loaded the bases with no outs. Carly McDaniel cashed in, lining a single back up the middle to bring home a pair. With the game threatening to quickly get out of hand,
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) shrugged off the early challenge by getting a ground out and a pair of big strikeouts to keep the Pioneers to just a 2-0 lead.
The Valiants picked up their starter with a three run second inning to take the lead. Walsh and Brooks led off the inning with a pair of singles, with both racing home on
Juliana Parkes' (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary) double. While Parkes would be erased later in the inning, Reyer would get on board via a fielding error. The Valiants would make the most of the misplay as Reyer came home on a Torres single to take a 3-2 lead.
It would take until the fifth inning for the offenses to strike again. The Valiants loaded the bases on a Torres double,
Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) walk and Harker fielder's choice, all with nobody out. Esparza drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Torres with an insurance run and extend the lead to 4-2. Manhattanville looked poised to blow the game open, but Jaelynn Miller got a pair of outs on a ground ball before striking out Parkes to keep the home team's deficit at two.
A two-out single and a pair of errors allowed the Pioneers to get a run back in the bottom of the fifth. From there, Mottoshiski got the final out of the inning before setting down the side in order in the sixth. She would work around a pair of hits in the seventh to strand the tying run at second and pick up her eighth win of the year.
Mottoshiski's final line was three runs, two earned, on nine hits and a pair of walks in seven innings. The sophomore struck out five, the third time this year she has punched out five or more batters. Mottoshiski's ERA continues to fall, now standing at 4.13 for the season.
Torres and Harker had a pair of hits to closed out the day. As a team, the Valiants stole nine bases, with Torres leading the effort with three steals.
Up Next
The Valiants get ready for four games across two days this weekend, taking on a pair of Skyline foes. Up first, a road doubleheader at Saint Joseph's Brooklyn at noon.
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