Albany Pitching Too Much for Manhattan

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score 

ALBANY, N.Y. ? As the old adage goes, good pitching beats good hitting.  The Manhattan College softball team (8-22) got good pitching from Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.), Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) on Tuesday afternoon, but Albany (23-10) got great pitching from Marissa Powell and Leah McIntosh en route to a 2-1, 3-0 doubleheader sweep at Albany Field.

After the Lady Jaspers left a pair of runners on base in the top of the first in game one, Albany used a Michelle Connors double and a two-run homer by Meagan Butsch to take a 2-0 lead.  That was all the offense Powell needed. 

Manhattan managed a run in the top of the second when Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) reached on a leadoff walk, then Kara Cokeley (Pearl River, N.Y.) and Amanda Genovese (Bethany, Conn.) followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases.  All three runners moved up on a wild pitch, allowing Velasquez to score.  That was it for the Lady Jaspers, as Powell didn't allow a base runner the rest of the way.  She struck out the next two Manhattan batters, then got out of the inning when Sullivan flied to center.

Meanwhile, the Manhattan pitchers were mowing down Great Danes, as well.  Rampino and Donnelly held Albany to just three singles after the first inning, but it wasn't enough, as Powell was unhittable.  Rampino (6-7) went the first four innings, yielding two runs and five hits while striking out three and walking one.  Donnelly gave up one hit, struck out two and walked two in two scoreless innings.  Powell, meanwhile, surrendered just one run and two hits, struck out 11 and walked three in game one.

Powell was back in the circle for Albany in game two and was just as overpowering.  She retired the first six Lady Jaspers, including striking out the side in the top of the second, before Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) led off the top of the third with a single.  That base hit snapped Powell's streak of 24 consecutive batters retired (three more than a perfect game) going back to the second inning of game one.

Albany got on the board with an unearned run off Sullivan in the bottom of the third.  Adrianna Walraven, Kristina's twin sister, roped a one-out double down the left field line, and moved to third on an error.  Nicole Kothe followed with a single that gave the Great Danes a 1-0 lead.  The Great Danes added two more unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Diane MacDowell roped an RBI single, and a second run came around on Manhattan's second error of the inning.

McIntosh relieved Powell in the top of the fifth, but she was just as dominant.  Evangelista's one-out single in the fifth, her second hit of the game, was the only hit she allowed over the final three innings.  McIntosh struck out seven of the 10 batters she faced.

Sullivan (0-8) suffered a tough-luck loss in game two.  She gave up three unearned runs and four hits while walking two over the first four innings.  Rampino finished up in the circle, yielding just one hit and striking out three in the final two innings.  Evangelista provided all of the Manhattan offense in game two, collecting both Lady Jaspers hits.  The only other Manhattan base runner in the game was Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.), who reached on an error in the third.

Fifteen of the 21 outs recorded by McIntosh and Powell were strikeouts.  Powell (10-9) struck out eight and gave up just the Evangelista single over the first four innings to earn her second win of the day.  McIntosh finished up the shutout to pick up her second save.  Albany's five hits in game two were scattered among five different players.