CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Manhattanville University softball team continued its romp across California on Tuesday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader at Pomona-Pitzer. Manhattanville took the opener over the Sagehens 7-1 before dropping a 14-6 slugfest in five innings to close out the day.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 7, Pomona-Pitzer 1
Led by a masterful performance by
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) in the circle for her first win of the year, the Valiants rode a five-run fifth to claim the win in the opening bout.
The senior hurler went the distance, allowing just one run of four hits and a walk while striking out five. In addition to her strikeout pitch working, Mottoshiski was able to induce weak contact all day, inducing nine groundouts to help her cause.
Mottoshiski was waged in a duel with Devin Waddell through the first three innings, with the bats combining for just one total hit across the opening frames. The Valiants broke through in the fourth, capitalizing on a pair of Sagehen errors.
Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) reached on a fielder's choice and came around to score after Emily Hurtado misplayed a pair of balls at short for the game's first run. The Valiants cashed in on the extended inning as
Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) dumped in a single to left to score
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts).
Working with a lead for the first time on the day, Mottoshiski set down the Pomona-Pitzer batters in order in the bottom of the fourth to get the Valiant bats back up to the dish. Manhattanville went on a two-out rally to erupt for five more runs. Singles from
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) and
Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) along with Fasce reaching on an error loaded the bases for Walsh, who delivered with a two-run single.
Lianna Lara (Santa Clarita, Calif./Sierra Canyon School) followed up with her first collegiate RBI with a single to center before Cruz cleared the bases with a two-run double to extend Manhattanville's lead up to 7-0.
Mottoshiski continued to deal, allowing just one hit across the fifth and sixth innings. The Sagehens broke up the shutout in the seventh, but the lone run was all the Pomona-Pitzer offense would manage its final at-bats.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 6, Pomona-Pitzer 14 (Five Innings)
After being held in check in the opener, the Sagehen bats came to life with 14 runs on 15 hits to split the day's doubleheader action via run rule in five innings.
The home team got on the board quickly with a Violet Burnham RBI single in the first and a Heather Hennigh two-run homer in the second. Manhattanville responded in the third as Walsh smashed the Valiants' first homer of the year, a three run blast that scored
Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) and Fasce to restart the game anew.
The Sagehens went back in front in the fourth after Waddell and Kylie Liu both hit two-run homers before Brooke Bullis delivered a two-run pinch hit double in what became a nightmare inning for
Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore). The rough frame spelled the end of the outing for the sophomore arm, who would take the loss after 3.2 innings of work, charged for nine runs on 10 hits and five walks.
Manhattanville's bats continued to show life after the Sagehen explosion, scratching out three runs in the top of the fifth. After O'Leary led off with a walk, Fasce chased her home with a double. Walsh then hit a single and stole second to put a pair in scoring position with two away. Hurtado's rough day at short continued as she mishandled a ball hit by
Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) that allowed Fasce to score and prolong the inning.
Ruby Wilson (Merrimack, N.H./Bishop Guertin) hit a ball back up the middle to plate Walsh with the Valiants' sixth run, making the score 9-6.
Despite Manhattanville's efforts to get back into the contest, the Sagehen bats did not slow down, plating five more runs in the bottom half of the fifth to enact the run rule victory. Walsh made her pitching debut for the year, stepping into the circle from second base, but was only able to record one out in the inning before Pomona-Pitzer took the win. Burnham and Morgan Groves both lined two-run doubles before Natalie Murguia delivered the walk-off hit with a double off the bench to put the Sagehens up eight and bring an early end to the contest.
Up Next
The Valiants head to Whittier on Wednesday to close out the team's California road trip. Manhattanville takes on the Poets at 1 p.m. EST ahead of a neutral site matchup against Bethel later on the day.
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