VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Another Manhattanville University softball season for the history books came to a close on Friday afternoon as the Valiants dropped a pair of contests against No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan University and Pfeiffer University in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Valiants officially wrap the year with a 36-10 record, the team's winningest season since a 39-win campaign in 2023.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 0, No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan 6
The Valiants squared off in the morning draw against the top-ranked team in the country of Virginia Wesleyan.
Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) took to the circle against an explosive Marlin offense, holding the hosts in check with a pair of scoreless innings to open the day. Virginia Wesleyan showed what they were capable of in the third, using three-straight two-out hits to plate three runs to take the lead.
Manhattanville, meanwhile, was up against one of the best arms in the nation in Hannah Hearl. Entering the day with an ERA hovering around 0.50 for the season, Hearl was exactly as advertised, retiring the first ten Valiants she faced in order with eight strikeouts.
Josie O'Leary (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) was finally able to solve the Hearl conundrum in the fourth with a single down the left field line with what proved to be the Valiants' lone hit of the morning.
The Marlins tacked on three more in the top of the fifth as Wilkendorf could not get out of the inning. The junior's final line was six runs allowed on 13 hits over 4.2 innings with a walk and a strikeout.
Wilkendorf gave way to
Hyli De Los Santos (Tustin, Calif./Irvine), who was able to get out of the frame after issuing a walk with a flyout. De Los Santos would set down the formidable Marlin lineup in order in the sixth while adding a scoreless seventh. Across 2.1 innings of relief, De Los Santos allowed just one hit and a walk with one strikeout.
Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) drew a walk in the fifth, while
Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) was able to work the count and reach on a walk in the seventh against Emma Adams. The pair were the only other Valiants to reach base outside of O'Leary on her single.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 2, Pfeiffer 7
A rematch of yesterday's opening round matchup, the Valiants were unable to replicate Thursday's success against the Falcons as Manhattanville was bested in the day's second and final elimination game of the day.
While the Valiants were able to keep the Falcons grounded on Thursday and hold the speedy Pfeiffer lineup contained on the bases, Friday was a different tale. The Falcons stole nine bases, led by four steals by Landry Stewart at the top of the lineup to put pressure on the Valiant battery from the jump.
Stewart set the tone immediately with a leadoff walk before stealing second, scoring three batters later on a Brooke Piper RBI single. The Falcons threatened with a huge first inning, loading up the bases with just one out, but
Tahlia Smith (St. Helena, Calif./St. Helena) fielded a comebacker in the circle for a 1-2-3 double play to escape the jam with just the lone run surrendered.
The Falcons were able to load the bags again in the second with two away, with Smith unable to replicate her heroics from the inning before. Mollie Bulla laced a single up the middle to plate a pair, putting Pfeiffer up 3-0. Smith gave way to De Los Santos from there, ending her NCAA Tournament debut with three runs allowed on three hits and five walks, striking out one over 1.2 innings.
Smith's rookie year concludes with a 13-4 record and a 2.79 season ERA, striking out 96 in her first season wearing the Valiant jersey.
De Los Santos got the inning-ending strikeout to send the game to the bottom of the second.
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) and
Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) hit back-to-back two out singles for the Valiants' first runners of the game, but Bulla retired her pitching counterpart on strikes to hold Manhattanville at bay.
After Pfeiffer plated one more run on three hits in the third, Manhattanville got on the board in the bottom half.
Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph) and
Emma Foster (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) led off the frame with a pair of singles, both advancing to scoring position on an O'Leary ground out. Tansey cashed in the Ochoa on third, finding the gap on the left side of the infield to bring home the run. The Valiants would leave a pair stranded as Bulla got the next two outs.
The persistent Falcons added another two runs in the fourth to take a five-run lead. De Los Santos would depart after the fourth, finishing the game with three runs allowed on five hits and a pair of walks while striking out three in 2.1 innings.
Wilkendorf was called upon to start the fifth, posting the first scoreless frame for the Valiant arms by navigating around a leadoff hit and two more steals by Stewart. Foster opened up the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot over the right field fence, her second home run of the season. That would be all for the Valiant offense as Bulla settled in to retire three of the next four to maintain a 6-2 lead entering the sixth.
Pfeiffer got the run back in the top half on a sacrifice fly. Lazur added a single for the Valiants during their at-bats, but she would be wiped out on a double play. Wilkendorf fired one more scoreless inning in the seventh, but Manhattanville was unable to make the Falcons pay for an error as Bulla recorded her fourth strikeout to close out the game.
Wilkendorf's breakout junior season comes to a close with a 20-5 record and an even 2.00 ERA across 161 innings of work. De Los Santos, meanwhile, wraps with a 2.70 ERA as a sophomore over 33.2 innings.
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