SALISBURY, Md. – Entering the second day of the 2026 Margie Knight Softball Classic, the Manhattanville University softball team picked up a pair of victories on Saturday to improve to .500 on the young season. The Valiants took down Carnegie Mellon in extras before turning around and earning a six-inning run-rule victory over NYU to close out the day's action.

Game One Recap: Manhattanville 8, Carnegie Mellon 6 (8 Innings)
The Valiants battled back against the Tartans in the day's opener, erasing a four-run deficit and ultimately winning the game following a three-run eighth inning in Manhattanville's first venture into extras since last March against The College of New Jersey.

Carnegie Mellon put the Valiants in a 4-0 hole through the first three innings as Aubrey Feldman drove in a pair in the second with a two-run single before Sophia Doherty smacked a two-run homer in the third. Manhattanville's offense was held quiet through the early going, with only an Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) double and a Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph High School) single through the first five innings.

With Haley Pucci holding the Valiants in check through four innings and Mari Jarmoszka continuing the success into the fifth, Manhattanville was down to six outs to work with to make something happen. The offense came to life as Lianna Lara (Santa Clarita, Calif./Sierra Canyon School) and Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) hit back-to-back one-out doubles to score the Vals' first run of the day. After Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) reached on the Valiants' third-straight hit with an infield single, the Tartans turned to Kiera Thomas to try and limit the damage. The reliever struggled, allowing a run to score on a wild pitch before walking Johanna Granillo (Reseda, Calif./Cleveland).

Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) came on to pinch run for Granillo and executed a double steal with Reyer to put a pair in scoring position. Ochoa drove in the third run of the inning with a single before Emma Foster (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) capped off the big inning with a two-run single, flipping the game on its head as Manhattanville took a 5-4 lead.

Tahlia Smith (St. Helena, Calif./St. Helena) was able to lock things down in the circle after the two-run frames in the second and third, tossing six innings, scattering four hits and working around five walks with four strikeouts. Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) was called upon to try to lock down the save in the seventh, but a pair of walks to leadoff the inning came around to bite as Kira Monji scored the tying run on a Maddy Beall ground out. Wilkendorf got Bella Reuss to fly out to strand the winning run at third and send the game to extras.

Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) took second as the free runner on second for Brooks, immediately moving up to third on a wild pitch. Reyer brought home the go ahead run with another RBI single, later scoring an insurance run on an Ochoa sac fly before Foster cashed in one last time with a single to plate Sickler.

The Tartans got a run back with the placed runner coming around to score on Riya Sharda's single, but Wilkendorf closed out the game with an infield pop up and an ground out for the 8-6 victory.
Wilkendorf improved to 2-1 on the year with the win, sporting a 1.94 ERA through her first four appearances.

Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 10, NYU 2 (6 Innings)
The Valiants closed out Day Two of the Classic the same way they ended Day One, winning via the run rule in six innings.

Manhattanville plated runs in each of the final five innings, with Ruby Wilson (Merrimack, N.H./Bishop Guertin) delivering the big blow, a bases loaded double in the bottom of the sixth to clear the bases and give the Valiants the unconventional walk-off win.

Leading 7-2 entering the sixth, Foster singled, Lazur reached on an error and Tansey walked to load the bags. NYU's Monique Kamrowski nearly tightroped out of danger with a pair of shallow fly outs to retire two, but she could not replicate the success against Wilson, who recorded the first multi-RBI game of her career with the hit.

The Valiants went right back to Wilkendorf in the circle for the backend of the day's action. The junior tossed all six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out two. The Violets got to Wilkendorf for an unearned run in the first, but she would allow just one hit across the first three innings as the Valiant bats went to work to pick up their starter.

Granillo provided the tying run in the second, reaching on a leadoff walk and later coming around to score on an NYU error. An inning later, the Valiants went in front as back-to-back one out doubles off the bats of Tansey and Cruz scored the go-ahead run. Cruz then stole third and trotted home on Granillo's sac fly to put the Valiants up 3-1.

A two-out rally plated three more runs in the fourth. Ochoa and Foster laced singles to get a pair on and scored on Lazur's single in the following at-bat. Manhattanville made it four straight base hits as Tansey double to bring home Lazur as the lead climbed to 6-1.

NYU got back into the run column in the fifth as Naya Schubel's leadoff double came home two batters later. The Valiants got the run right back in the bottom half as Granillo continued to find herself in the middle of the action with a leadoff walk, scoring two batters later on a Reyer double, setting the stage for Wilson's walk-off an inning later.

Up Next
The Valiants wrap up play at the Margie Knight Classic tomorrow, facing NYU again at 11 a.m. before squaring off against Lynchburg at 1:30 p.m.

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