Manhattan-Rhode Island Box Score
Manhattan-Army Box Score
KISSIMMEE, Fla. ? The Manhattan College softball team dropped a pair of contests at the Rebel Spring Games on Monday. In their first game of the day, the Lady Jaspers (2-8) lost a 2-1 heartbreaker against Rhode Island (4-7). Manhattan fell to Army (4-12), 6-1, later on Monday afternoon at the Osceola County Sports Complex.
All of the runs in the Rhode Island game were scored in the first inning. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) got things started for the Lady Jaspers with a single in the top of the first, then moved to third when Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) singled to right center. After Lyndzie Phillips (Indianapolis, Ind.) walked to load the bases, Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Donnelly with the game's first run.
The Rams countered with a pair of runs against Donnelly in the bottom of the first. Jackie Kampmeier hit a leadoff single, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After Darci Borden grounded out, Leah DiBussolo smashed a two-run homer to give Rhode Island a 2-1 lead.
That was the extent of the offense in the game, as Donnelly and Jayshree Narendran settled into an old fashioned pitchers' duel after that. Michel's sacrifice fly started a span where Narendran (1-2) retired 15 Lady Jaspers in a row until Donnelly smacked a one-out double in the top of the sixth. She threw a complete game, allowing three hits and one run while striking out nine and walking one. Donnelly (1-3) scattered six hits and didn't allow a Rhode Island runner to get past second base after the first inning. She walked three and struck out one in six innings of work.
Donnelly also paced the Lady Jaspers offensively, collecting two of Manhattan's three hits in the game. Stefani Poedubicky went 2-for-2 for the Rams, while DiBussolo drove in both runs on her two-run homer.
In the afternoon against Army, the contest moved into the third inning scoreless. Alexis AuBuchon roped a leadoff single for the Black Knights in the top of the third, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Natalia Gruenbaum came in to pinch run for AuBuchon and scored on Erin McClain's single to right center. Manhattan responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the third when pinch runner Gianna Cirilli (Little Ferry, N.J.) scored on an error.
Manhattan starter Ashley Rampino's (Manalapan, N.J.) defense abandoned her in the top of the fourth, as three Manhattan errors led to four Army runs. The Black Knights added an insurance tally in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Sarah Yates.
Army starter Jessi Muckleroy (4-4) held Manhattan to just two hits, an Amanda Genovese (Bethany, Conn.) single in the third and a single by Donnelly in the sixth, over six innings. She gave up an unearned run, struck out four and walked three. Nicole Talarczyk pitched a perfect seventh for the Black Knights.
Rampino (1-2) lasted five innings in the circle for the Lady Jaspers and yielded five runs (two earned) and seven hits while striking out one and walking one. Donnelly finished up and didn't allow a hit over the final two innings. She yielded one run, struck out one and walked two.
Army's seven hits were spread among seven different players, and six different Black Knights scored a run. Yates went 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.
The Lady Jaspers, who have played six games in their first three days in Florida, get a day off on Tuesday. Manhattan is back in action with matchups a pair of contests on Wednesday morning. The Lady Jaspers take on Cornell (10-4) at 9 a.m., then face Wagner (2-10) at 11 a.m.
