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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - With little more than a week left in the regular season, the Manhattan College softball team went a long way towards locking up a third-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament berth on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Gaelic Park. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) hurled a six-hit shutout to give Manhattan (20-20, 7-3 MAAC) a 1-0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader with Rider (8-34, 1-11 MAAC). The Lady Jaspers then scored four runs in the sixth inning of game two to post a 6-3 triumph.
Manhattan scored the only run of the first game in the second inning. Amanda Babcock (Haverstraw, N.Y.) drew a one-out walk, then stole second. With two down and Babcock still on second, Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) singled down the left field line. Sullivan rounded first so that the throw wouldn't go home, and Babcock was able score before she was tagged out at second to end the inning.
Donnelly worked around a leadoff double in the third and an error in the fourth before Rider threatened again in the top of the fifth. Samantha Mayer started the inning with a single to center, and moved to second on a groundout. However, the rally died when Mayer was thrown out trying to go to third on Lisa Blanton's ground ball single to shallow left. Blanton tried to catch the Lady Jaspers sleeping and move to second on the play, but Nicole Michel's (Massapequa, N.Y.) throw beat her and Babcock made the tag to complete the unusual 7-5-6 double play and maintain Manhattan's 1-0 advantage.
Looking for an insurance run, the Lady Jaspers loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth. Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) started the inning with a single to center. She then stole second before Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) walked. After a popup, Donnelly sent a grounder towards third and Rider third baseman Brittany Eckett didn't have time to make the play herself. Her throw beat Evangelista to the bag, but shortstop Jen Steward was late covering. Evangelista was originally ruled out, but the called was overturned, loading the bases with one out. However, Rider starter Rachael Matreale got out of the jam when she struck out Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.), then got Babcock on a grounder to third that ended the inning.
Rider put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the seventh, but Donnelly struck out Mayer, then retired Kehli Washington on a grounder to short. The 1-0 victory was Manhattan's second straight shutout, and it marked the first time this season the Lady Jaspers won when scoring fewer than three runs.
Manhattan had just four hits in game one, singles by Evangelista, Rahey, Babcock and Sullivan. Donnelly (2-3) was brilliant in the circle, yielding just six hits and not walking a batter while striking out three Broncs.
Lucy Higgins collected two of Rider's six hits, going 2-for-3. Matreale (4-20) also pitched well, allowing only one run on four singles. She struck out four and walked three.
In the first inning of game two, a controversial play sparked a Rider rally. Steward led off the game with a popup that Donnelly lost on the sun and dropped for a base hit, then Amanda Centeno walked. Alyssa Paul was up next, and she sent a dribbler down the first base line. Rahey picked up the grounder and appeared to tag the runner, but Paul was called safe, loading the bases. Sam Pugh then grounded into a double play, but a run scored on the play, giving the Broncs a 1-0 lead. Rider increased its lead to 2-0 when Eckett reached on a leadoff double, then scored on a throwing error in the top of the second.
Meanwhile, Rider starter Krysti Maronski was moving right along, retiring the first 10 Lady Jaspers she faced before Evangelista drew a one-out walk in the fourth. That brought up Rahey, who broke up the no-hitter and the shutout with a two-run blast to left center that tied the game. However, the Broncs went back in front when Steward reached on a leadoff double and scored on Paul's single up the middle in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Manhattan used a four-run rally to pull ahead. Evangelista drew a leadoff walk and Rahey followed with a single, prompting a Rider pitching change, as Maronski was replaced by game one starter Matreale. After Michel bunted the runners over to second and third, the Lady Jaspers loaded the bases when Donnelly was hit by a pitch. Matreale struck out Rampino for the second out, but gave up the tying run on a wild pitch. Manhattan then took the lead when Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) hit a little blooper that was just fair over third base and laded for a double. Donnelly was only able to move to third on Bowen's two-base hit, but that didn't matter, as Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) was up next, and she delivered a single that knocked in both Donnelly and Bowen.
Now staked to a three-run lead, Rampino retired the Broncs in order on three groundouts in the seventh to preserve the 6-3 victory, Manhattan's fifth straight conference win.
Rahey and Evangelista provided much of the Manhattan offense in game two. Rahey went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Evangelista walked twice and scored each time. Bowen was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Velasquez collected a pair of RBIs. Rampino (7-9) tossed a complete game in the circle, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out one and walking one.
Steward went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored for Rider. Paul added two hits and an RBI, as the Broncs outhit the Lady Jaspers 7-5. Maronski (4-7) took the loss after giving up four runs on three hits, striking out four and walking two over five innings. Matreale was charged with two runs on two hits and was credited with a strikeout in game two.
The Lady Jaspers, who have worked their way back to .500 overall for the first time since March 12, hit the road on Sunday for a 1 p.m. twinbill at first-place Fairfield (25-17, 9-1 MAAC). The Stags' Sarah Minice tossed a perfect game in the opener of a doubleheader sweep against Saint Peter's on Saturday.
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