SALISBURY, Md. – Squaring off against the second-ranked team in the nation, the Manhattanville College softball team dropped a pair of games against the Salisbury University Sea Gulls on Friday afternoon. The losses move the Valiants' record to begin the year to 0-6, the first time Manhattanville has been winless through their first six games since 2004.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 2, Salisbury 14 (Five Innings)
The Sea Gulls took the opener via run rule after plating 14 runs on 12 hits across their four innings at the plate as the Salisbury bats did damage against the Valiant arms.
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) struggled with her control as she got the start, recording just two outs before being pulled as she walked four and hit a batter to be charged with three runs. The senior's two outs came via strikeout before she was replaced in the circle by
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills).
The junior did well to limit the damage across the first two innings, as she allowed just one of the runners on the bases loaded she inherited to score before getting out of the jam. The Gulls tacked on one more against her in the second to take a 4-0 lead.
Manhattanville was able to get on the board in the third as
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later,
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) dropped a single into center with the pair of baserunners advancing on a wild pitch. With the two in scoring position and two away,
Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) delivered with a single to left, bringing home the two runs to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
Salisbury solved Mottoshiski in the third as they plated seven runs on seven hits and an error to blow the game open, 11-2. The Valiant pitcher's final line was eight runs, six earned, on nine hits, one walk and one strikeout.
The Valiants were held without a hit over their final two innings at the plate. Despite drawing three walks in the two frames, Manhattanville was unable to put a dent into Salisbury's lead.
Jori Wilendorf tossed the fourth inning in the circle for the Valiants, allowing three unearned runs on three hits and a walk while striking out one.
Harker was the lone Valiant to finish the opener with multiple hits, going 2-for-2 with a walk and run scored.
Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) and
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) joined Coleman in the hit column, with Reye accounting for the team's lone extra base hit with a double in the second.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 0, Salisbury 8 (Five Innings)
Salisbury continued to hit throughout the second game as they plated eight runs on six hits, walking off via run rule in the bottom of the fifth.
The Valiants were shutout for the third time in six games in the young season as the offense was held to just two hits in the contest, singles by
Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) and
Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary). The two hits and three walks drawn were not enough to get to Nicole Ortega, who tossed four scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Shinstine went right back out there for Game Two and was able to last four innings in her fourth start of the year, but continued to battle control issues as she issued seven walks in her outing. The free passes, coupled with six hits, resulted in the graduate pitcher being tagged for seven runs. Shinstine struck out three in the outing.
After the Sea Gulls plated a run in the first, the Valiants had their best opportunity to score in the top of the second. A two-out rally saw
Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) draw a walk, Lazur ingle to right, and
Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) walk to load up the bases. However, Ortega settled in and got the inning-ending groundout to keep the Valiants scoreless.
The Seagulls plated four more runs in the second and two in the third to go up 7-0. The Valiants had another opportunity to break up the shutout in the fifth after Madison Taylor came in for relief for Salisbury. Fasce drew a leadoff walk while Walsh was hit by a pitch two batters later to put a pair on. Once again, the Sea Gulls were able to navigate the traffic with a fielder's choice and flyout to strand a pair.
Walsh then made the move from second base to the pitching circle in the bottom of the fifth for her first pitching appearance of the season. The junior issued a pair of walks before getting the first out on a flyout, but Jillian Dawson advanced up to third on the deep fly to right. She came home to score on a groundout by Meghan Reed to put Salisbury up by eight to enact the run rule and complete the doubleheader sweep.
Up Next
With inclement weather in the forecast this weekend, the Valiants will return to action on Tuesday for a doubleheader at Stockton starting at 2:30 p.m.
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