BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University softball team's dominant stretch continued on Saturday with the Valiants tossing a pair of no-hitters in a doubleheader sweep of Sarah Lawrence. The Valiants have now won 19 straight games, outscoring their opponents 216-16 in the stretch.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 19, Sarah Lawrence 0 (Five Innings)
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) and
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) teamed up for their third combined no-hitter as a pitching tandem as the bats pounded out 19 runs on 17 hits to take the opener in convincing fashion.
Shinstine opened what would be the tenth no-hitter of her career and second of the season with the first two frames of the game, not allowing a baserunner while recording five of her six total outs via strikeout. Walsh was nearly perfect the rest of the way with three hitless innings of her own, with the lone blemish being a hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the third. The junior struck out seven as she earned the win in the circle.
The Valiants immediately spotted their arms a six-run advantage in the first inning, benefiting from three Gryphon errors alongside three base hits. After
Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) reached and later scored on an error,
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) delivered the team's first base hit with a double to right center to plate Walsh. After Harker later scored on a delayed steal,
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) delivered a two run double before Shinstine helped her own cause with a run-scoring single to put the Valiants up by six.
The lead swelled up to 15 in the third inning.
Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) led off with a pinch-hit solo shot for her first collegiate homer. Three batters later, Walsh drove in a run with a double before Harker drilled her second two-bagger of the game to plate two more, putting the Vals up by 10. Harker scored on an error during
Rachel Coleman's (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) at-bat, while
Ruby Wilson (Merrimack, N.H./Bishop Guertin) crossed hom on a
Madison Gonzales (Azusa, Calif./Sacred Heart) sacrifice fly. A Syndi Brooks RBI double plated Coleman before the eruption was capped off with an
Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) two-run shot to wrap up the nine-run frame.
Manhattanville added four final runs in the fourth, with Gonzalez hitting a one-run single ahead of Brooks' three-run homer that put Manhattanville up 19-0.
Twelve different Valiants recorded a hit in the win, led by Harker's 3-for-4 effort. Walsh, Brooks and Tansey each collected a pair of hits, with Brooks' four RBI leading the team. Tansey and
Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary) each stole a base in Game One.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 17, Sarah Lawrence 0
From a pair of pitchers familiar with no-hitters to a pair logging the first of their career,
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) and
Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) completed the shutdown of the Gryphon bats with the Valiants' second no-hitter of the afternoon.
Junior Mottoshiski was able to start things off in what would be the first no-no of her three-year career with a pair of perfect innings to begin the contest. Mottoshiski struck out four before giving way to Wilkendorf for the final three innings. Like Walsh the game prior, the rookie arm flirted with perfection, with only a walk in the fourth going against her statline. Wilkendorf also punched out four to secure the win, her second of the season.
The Valiants put runs on the board in each of the five innings, collecting 18 hits as a team. The bats once again wasted little time getting the scoring started, plating eight runs on six hits and three Gryphon errors before Sarah Lawrence got a chance to bat. Harker drove in the first run in the form on Walsh with an RBI single, while Brooks plated a pair two batters later with a single of her own. Reyer stepped up with the bases loaded a delivered a two-run single up the middle to plate Brooks and
Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon). The big blow would come from the starting pitcher as Mottoshiski capped off the inning with a three run blast to center to spot herself an 8-0 lead before stepping into the circle.
Lazur provided all the scoring in the second, doubling to left to score Brooks and Harker. The Valiants added four more in the third on a Gonzalez RBI double and a three-run homer off the bat of Brooks to go up 14-0.
After taking over in the circle, Wilkendorf followed in Mottoshiski's steps with a home run of her own in the fourth, a two-run shot that swelled the Valiant lead up to 16-0. Tansey accounted for the team's final run of the contest in the fifth, scoring on an error.
It was another full-team affair as 11 batters recorded a hit in the sweep-securing win. Lazur finished 3-for-3 at the dish, with all three of her basehits going for doubles. Brooks also finished 3-for-3 with five RBI and three runs scored. Walsh, Harker and Gonzales added two hits apiece.
Up Next
The Valiants look to push the winning streak up into the 20s tomorrow when the team wraps up the week against Mount Saint Vincent for a doubleheader starting at noon.
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