BRONX, N.Y. – A late-night start did little to tire the bats of the Manhattanville University softball team on Thursday night as the Valiants scored 31 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Mount Saint Vincent. Manhattanville has now rattled off 14 straight wins and stands 25-7 overall with a 12-0 mark in Skyline Conference play.

Game One Recap: Manhattanville 12, Mount Saint Vincent 4
The Valiants built up a lead throughout the game in the opener before blowing things open with a five-run seventh to begin the night with a win.

Manhattanville plated runs in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings while holding the Dolphins scoreless through the first five frames.

The Valiants struck first in the second after Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) reached on a fielder's choice. The senior proceeded to steal second and move up to third on a wild pitch, allowing Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) to bring her home with a sacrifice fly for the game's opening run.

An inning later, Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph) led off by reaching on an error and following in Reyer's footsteps by stealing second and advancing to third on Emma Foster's (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) ground out. Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) was able to sky one to left for the Valiants' second sac fly of the contest to put Manhattanville up a pair.

Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) kept the momentum going with a single before stealing second and third during Angelina Cruz' (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) at-bat. No stranger to being in the middle of chaotic run-scoring plays in the last week, Cruz drew a walk and made a wide turn around first, prompting the Dolphins to throw the ball around the infield to try and get the out. With Cruz in a rundown, Tansey broke for home and scored before Mount Saint Vincent recorded the final out of the inning as the Valiants took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the third.

A day removed from her first homer of the season, Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) went yard again in the fourth, a two-run shot that furthered Manhattanville's lead to 5-0.
Manhattanville kept building on with a two-run sixth. After Reyer and Sickler led off with back-to-back singles, Lazur delivered again with a bases-clearing double as the Valiants went up by seven.

After allowing just two hits over her first five innings of work, Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) ran into trouble in the sixth as the Dolphins tagged the Valiant starter for four hits, plating four runs and bringing Mount Saint Vincent back to life. With two out in the inning, Tahlia Smith (St. Helena, Calif./St. Helena) was called on to try and limit the damage. After issuing a walk to the first batter she faced, Smith struck out Simone Caruso to keep the Valiants up by three.

Manhattanville responded to the Dolphins' inning with a big offensive frame of their own to open the seventh, collecting four hits and aided by a pair of UMSV errors. With one out, Ruby Wilson (Merrimack, N.H./Bishop Guertin) reached on the first Dolphin error of the inning ahead of a Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) single. Reyer deposited a ball to center field to bring home Wilson with first run of the inning, before the Dolphins had another error during Sickler's at-bat that allowed two more to score. Lazur then collected her fifth RBI of the contest with a double to bring home Sickler. Ochoa capped off the big inning with an RBI double of her own as the Valiants took a 12-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

With enough excitement over the last inning, Smith sat down the side in order to close out the game and record her first collegiate save. The freshman did not allow a hit in her 1.1 innings of relief, striking out a pair and walking one.

Wilkendorf improved to 14-2 with the win, going 5.2 innings in the start. The junior allowed four runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts, now holding a 2.03 ERA.

In addition to her five RBI, Lazur went 3-for-4 at the plate in the opener, scoring twice. She was joined by Brooks and Reyer with multi-hit efforts, with Reyer crossing home three times.

Manhattanville stole six total bases, with Ochoa and Tansey nabbing a pair each while O'Leary and Reyer swiped one.

Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 19, Mount Saint Vincent 2 (Five Innings)
The Valiants teed off for 19 runs and 22 hits in the night's finale, earning their 14^th run-rule win of the season.

Manhattanville wasted little time with a two-run first. After Lazur and Tansey reached on a pair of one-out singles, Lazur scored on a passed ball before Tansey came home on Cruz' attempt to steal second later in the inning.

In the second, four straight singles off the bats of Sickler, Smith, Ochoa and Foster plated a pair of runs. Tansey cleared the bases two batters later with the Valiants' fifth hit of the inning, driving in two more runs as the lead swelled to 6-0.

Brooks began the third with a leadoff double ahead of Reyer singling and advancing to second. Two batters later, Smith hit a chopper that she beat out for an infield single. Brooks scored initially, but as Smith drew the attention of the Dolphin infielders by breaking for second, Reyer was able to score the second run of the play.
Manhattanville strung together four more consecutive hits, with back-to-back singles by Ochoa and Foster, a Lazur double and another Tansey single to plate three more runs to put the Valiants comfortably ahead 11-0.

The Dolphins scratched out a pair of runs in the bottom of the third against Smith, but it did little to slow down Manhattanville's offense. Sickler drove in Brooks after a leadoff double with an RBI ground out before Ochoa brought Reyer home two batters later with a single. With the bases loaded, Smith ran home on a wild pitch before Lazur's red-hot week continued with two more RBI on a bases-clearing single, scoring Foster and Ochoa for a 16-2 lead. Bria Hospodar (Old Bethpage, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F Kennedy) kept things going with a pinch-hit single to score Lazur.

Carrying a 15-run lead into the fifth, the Valiants capped off a dominant night with two more runs in what was the final inning of the night. Sickler led off with a walk and scored two batters later on an Ochoa single, while the final run of the contest came home during Tansey's at-bat, as her bases loaded grounder was mishandled and allowed everyone to advance, brining Ochoa home with a 19-2 lead.

With run support aplenty, it was a stress-free start for Smith, who improved to 9-3 with her start. The freshman went three innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out six. Hyli De Los Santos (Tustin, Calif./Irvine) took care of things the rest of the way with a pair of scoreless relief innings, allowing two hits and walking one with three strikeouts.

Up Next
The Valiants are scheduled to host a pair of Skyline doubleheaders this weekend, weather permitting. Manhattanville will return home on Saturday to host Mount Saint Mary for a twinbill starting at noon.

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