PURCHASE, N.Y. – Making its long-awaited home debut on Wednesday afternoon, the Manhattanville University softball team was defeated in extra innings by John Jay, 7-5. The Valiants fall to 11-7 overall with the loss.

As had been the case during their five-game win streak entering the day, the Valiants got off to a quick start with a pair of runs in the first inning. A one-out walk from Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) got the offense going, prefacing back-to-back RBI doubles off the bats of Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) and Lianna Lara (Santa Clarita, Calif./Sierra Canyon School) to spot the home side a 2-0 lead.

The Bloodhounds were quick to respond, tagging Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) for three runs on three hits and a hit by pitch in the top of the second. The Valiants picked up their starter in the bottom half, first with Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) knocking a leadoff double. Manhattanville's third baseman then stole third and scored on the throw down attempt that sailed into the outfield. Two batters later, Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph High School) hit a triple to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. She was able to score on Emma Foster's (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) fielder's choice, beating the tag at home to put Manhattanville back in front 4-3.

Manhattanville added a run to their lead in the fourth when Foster reached on a double and came around to score on an O'Leary bunt single and a wild pitch.

The Bloodhounds were able to take advantage of a pair of Valiant errors in the fifth to once again tie the contest up. A single and an error put a pair in scoring position for John Jay with one out. Wilkendorf got Kendal Bryant to fly out to right for the second out, but the relay home to try and nab Kelly Fajardo at home on the sacrifice fly went off target, allowed Natalie Graham to score from third with the tying run.

Tahlia Smith (St. Helena, Calif./St. Helena) came into the circle for relief in the sixth, pitching two hitless innings and working around her own error in the seventh to keep the game tied entering the bottom of the seventh. Manhattanville had the winning run reach to open the frame after O'Leary beat out a bunt single, but she would be left stranded at third, sending the game into extras.

The Bloodhounds opted to play small ball with the runner placed on second to open the eighth, using a sacrifice bunt and a single from Bryant up the middle that just got past the diving glove of Ochoa to plate the go-ahead run. John Jay added an insurance run with another infield hit from Kayla Sauers to go up by a pair. Lindsay Ogden capped off her 138-pitch complete game in the bottom half, navigating a two out walk to keep the Valiants off the board and snap a 21-game losing streak against Manhattanville that dated back to 1995.

Smith took the loss, dropping to 2-3 on her rookie campaign. She finished with three innings pitched in relief, charged with two runs (one earned) on a pair of hits and a walk.

Wilkendorf scattered four hits across her five innings, allowing three earned runs. The junior did not walk a batter for the second time this season and struck out a pair.

Five of Manhattanville's eight hits went for extra bases. O'Leary was the lone Valiant to rack up multiple hits in the contest with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, pushing her batting average even higher to .561 on the year.

Up Next
Manhattanville looks to bounce back when conference play resumes on Saturday with a noon doubleheader at Sarah Lawrence.