Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Click here to view the 2011 Manhattan Softball Media Guide
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After playing 15 straight games away from home, the Manhattan College softball team was back at Gaelic Park for the first time in 17 days on Saturday afternoon. And the Lady Jaspers (8-11) enjoyed the home cooking. Manhattan won the first game by a 4-3 count, then notched an 11-3 victory in the second game to complete a doubleheader sweep of Lafayette (1-19).
Manhattan got on the board first in game one with a second-inning run. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) started the inning with a double to left, and she moved to second on Kate Bowen's (Newtown, Conn.) groundout. After Melissa Cascio (Kings Park, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch, Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) delivered a single to right that knocked in Donnelly with the game's first run.
Lafayette tied the game on Mary Episcopo's triple and Stacey Kushner's sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, but the Lady Jaspers got that run right back in the bottom half of the inning. Bowen started the rally with a single up the middle, then Velasquez singled and Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) walked to load the bases with two out. Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) was up next, and her hard-hit line drive back to the circle was too much to handle, pushing the go-ahead run across.
A two-out error in the top of the fifth opened the door for the Leopards, as Jordan Parsons hit a long home run to center field immediately after the miscue to put Lafayette in front 3-2. However, the Lady Jaspers once again responded, putting up a two-spot of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Donnelly got the rally started with a single, and she moved to third on a single by Bowen. Cascio followed with a bouncer to second, but instead of taking the sure out at first base, Lafayette second baseman Melanie Ruderman decided to go home. Donnelly, who had taken off on contact, beat the throw to tie the game. After Velasquez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Walraven hit a liner back to the pitcher. Just like Evangelista's line drive an inning earlier (which was to virtually the same spot on the field), Walraven hit the ball too hard for Lafayette to make a play, and Bowen came around from third, putting the Lady Jaspers in front 4-3.
After neither side scored in the sixth, Amanda Babcock (Haverstraw, N.Y.) was inserted as a defensive replacement at second base in the top of the seventh. Babcock was on the receiving end of the first out of the inning when Lauren Murphy failed to get down a sacrifice bunt and Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) got the lead runner at second. After an error put a runner on third with one down, Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) struck out pinch hitter Stacey Dorn. Then leadoff hitter Gwen Turner hit a sinking line drive towards second base that looked like it would be a game-tying single, but Babcock stabbed the liner to end the game.
Donnelly and Bowen both went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in game one, while Velasquez was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Sullivan (4-2) picked up the win after tossing a complete game in the circle. She gave up three runs (one earned) on six hits, struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
Episcopo was the only Leopard with a multi-hit effort in game one, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Melissa Robinson went the first 3.2 innings in the circle before she was removed due to an injury. She surrendered two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Christine Hilcken (0-1) took the loss after allowing two runs and three hits while striking out two and walking two in 2.1 innings.
Lafayette put a run on the board in the top of the first in game two, but the first five Manhattan hitters all reached base in the bottom half of the inning. Walraven got things started with an infield single. She stole second, then scored on Evangelista's double to right center. After Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) and Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) walked, Donnelly ripped an RBI single to right that gave Manhattan a 2-1 lead.
Lafayette tied it in the top of the second, but Manhattan responded with a four-spot. Walraven started the rally with a one-out single, then Rahey drew a walk. After Rampino's RBI double, Donnelly crushed a long three-run homer to left field that increased the Lady Jaspers' advantage to 6-2.
The Lady Jaspers then broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the third. After Meghan McDevitt (Nutley, N.J.), Jocelin Whitmore (La Habra, Calif.) and Walraven all walked to load the bases, Evangelista roped a double down the right field line to knock in two runs. Rahey followed with an RBI double to center. Rampino was up next, and she hit one that was just fair over third base. The ball got caught in the netting behind the Irish football goal and, after originally being ruled a single, the call was changed to a ground-rule double, resulting in two more runs.
Rampino cruised in the circle the rest of the way, giving up just a fifth-inning infield single over the final two frames before the contest was halted on the eight-run rule. Overall, Rampino (2-6) yielded three runs (two earned) on seven hits, struck out three and walked two. She also went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and a run scored at the plate, as the 1-5 hitters in the Manhattan lineup were a combined 9-for-11 with 11 RBIs and nine runs scored in game two. Walraven was 2-for-2 with three runs scored, while Evangelista went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Rahey scored a pair of runs and Donnelly had a 2-for-3, four-RBI effort in game two.
Kushner and Dorn both went 2-for-3 for the Leopards in game two. Kushner added an RBI and scored a run. Lauren Hasson (0-4) tossed the first 2.1 innings in the circle and took the loss. She surrendered eight runs on six hits, struck out five and walked five. Ali Henry pitched the final 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
On Sunday, Manhattan is back in action with a doubleheader at Quinnipiac (13-13). The twinbill is scheduled to get underway at 12 p.m.
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