Box Score
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) of the Manhattan College softball team was brilliant on Sunday morning. She tossed a complete game three-hit shutout and scored a run to give the Lady Jaspers (6-11) a 4-0 victory over Lafayette (1-18) in the consolation game of the Seton Hall Pirate Classic. Bowen and Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) were both selected to the All-Tournament Team.
After Lafayette stranded a pair of base runners in the top of the first, Manhattan got on the board with an unearned run in the bottom half of the inning. Bowen led off and reached on an error. She then moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a groundout. The Lady Jaspers tallied the first run of the contest when Bowen came across on Nicole Michel's (Massapequa, N.Y.) sacrifice fly to center field.
The Lady Jaspers then added two more in the bottom of the third. Rahey drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Michelle Roemer (Ardsley, N.Y.) entered the game to run for Rahey, Jen Keller (Woodridge, N.J.) reached on an error, allowing Roemer to score. Later in the inning, Meghan McDevitt (Nutley, N.J.) roped an RBI single to bring Keller home.
Bowen, meanwhile, was cruising. She retired 10 straight Leopards after walking a pair in the first, and didn't allow a hit until a leadoff single by Stacey Kushner in the fourth. After Kushner was erased on a double play, Carly Feiro singled and Laruen Murphy walked to give Lafayette runners on first and second. However, the next batter, Nicole Pettingill popped up behind third to end the inning.
Manhattan plated another unearned tally in the bottom of the fifth, but Lafayette threatened again in the top of the sixth, putting runners on second and third with two out. However, Bowen struck out Pettingill to get out of the jam, then retired the Leopards in order in the seventh to complete the gem.
Offensively, Manhattan was held to just three hits as well, but the Lady Jaspers took advantage of four Lafayette errors. All four Manhattan runs, including a pair by Keller, were unearned. Bowen (2-0) struck out five and walked three.
For Lafayette, Feiro went 2-for-3 while the rest of the team was a combined 1-for-22 at the plate. Lauren Hasson (0-3) got the start in the circle and tossed four innings. She gave up three unearned runs on two hits, struck out two and walked five. Emily Noel surrendered an unearned run and one hit in two innings of work. She also had a strikeout.
Manhattan begins a four-game homestand with a doubleheader against Columbia (5-14) at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The Lady Jaspers and Leopards then meet again on Saturday for a 1 p.m. twinbill at Gaelic Park.
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