VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Manhattanville University softball team opened the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Pfeiffer University in Game Two of the Virginia Beach Regional bracket. The Valiants advance on the winner's side of the bracket and will square off against No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan on Friday morning.
Thursday was the first time in the Valiants' last four trips to the NCAA Tournament that the team won its tourney opener, with Manhattanville last emerging victorious in a regional opener in 2018 against Ramapo in the Ithaca Regional.
The Valiants wasted little time offensively as
Emma Foster (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) led off the day with a ten-pitch walk. The sophomore then did what she's done all season long, stealing her team-leading 31
st base to get into scoring position. The move paid off as
Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) was able to bloop a single into shallow left field, sending Foster home with the first run.
Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) continued the hot start by lacing a double down the left field line to chase in O'Leary, but the Falcons were able to get the next three batters out to keep the damage at two.
From there, it was
Jori Wilkendorf's (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) time to shine. The junior arm delivered in the biggest stage of her career, holding Pfeiffer to just one run on seven hits across seven innings of work, needing just 77 pitches to get through the game. Wilkendorf did not allow a walk while striking out one, improving to 20-4 overall with a 1.78 ERA on the season. This is the seventh time in program history a pitcher has earned 20-plus wins, the first since Charli Shinstine in 2023.
Wilkendorf passed her first test in the opening frame. Landry Stewart led off with an infield single. Entering the day second in the nation with 61 steals, the senior was ready to make a jump for second at the first opportunity. Stewart did eventually make her move, but was called out for abandoning the base early to erase the speedster. Wilkendorf then got a pair of flyouts to retire the side unscathed.
Pfeiffer would get on the board in the second as back-to-back singles by Brooke Piper and E.A. Nance prefaced a Kirstyn Herman double to plate a run and put two in scoring position with nobody away. Wilkendorf was able to tightrope out of the jam with a popup before
Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) handled a grounder perfectly to gun down the tying run at the plate. The pitcher helped herself out by catching a pop up for the final out of the inning, keeping the lead in tact.
Foster and O'Leary added a pair of singles in the third but the Valiants could not bring home an insurance run. The bottom half of the inning played out similarly for the Falcons as the first did, as Stewart reached on a bunt single before being called out again on a steal attempt while Wilkendorf shut things down.
The pitcher's duel continued into the sixth, with the teams combining for just one hit across the fourth and fifth innings. Manhattanville looked to have something cooking after Tansey drew a one out walk and
Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) singled to put a pair on, but Abigail Bowman was able to get the next two outs without any damage. In Pfeiffer's at-bats, Heather Vaughn led off with a single, but would be erased by Cruz on a picture-perfect throw down to
Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph) on a steal attempt before Wilkendorf got two more outs to send the game to the seventh.
With nothing doing for the Valiants in the top half, Pfeiffer stepped up to the plate for their final turn offensively. Wilkendorf got a one-pitch ground out to open the frame before Herman skied a ball into foul territory down the right field line. Foster made a spectacular diving catch to record the out, allowing Wilkendorf to turn her attention to the pinch hitting Emily Dickerson. In the first pitch of the at-bat, Dickerson rolled over on one to
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) at short, who fired on to
Bria Hospodar (Old Bethpage, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F Kennedy) at first for the final out of the affair.
Up Next
Earlier in the day, No. 1 Virginia Welseyan defeated John Jay 14-0 to advance in the winner's bracket. The Valiants now get a crack against the top-seeded Marlins in the opening contest of Friday's action at 11 a.m. The winner advances to Saturday's regional final, while the loser will take on the winner of Pfeiffer/John Jay at 4 p.m. in a win-or-go-home elimination game.
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