Box Score
Click here to purchase the 2011 Manhattan Softball Yearbook
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Last season, the Manhattan College softball team saw its season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion with a walk-off loss to Niagara in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament. One year later, the Lady Jaspers suffered a similar fate. With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Iona (28-20) recorded an unearned run to notch a 4-3 victory over Manhattan (25-23) at Marist College's Gartland Field on Friday afternoon. With the loss, Manhattan was eliminated from the tournament.
The Lady Jaspers took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the second. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) started the inning with a leadoff single, then Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) sent a grounder towards third. However, Iona second baseman Tessa Earley tried to turn the double play too quickly and dropped the ball, which meant Donnelly was safe at second. After a Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) sacrifice, Jen Keller (Woodridge, N.J.) lifted a single to left field that drove in both runners and gave Manhattan a 2-0 lead.
However, Iona immediately struck back with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Katie Jansson cut Manhattan's lead in half with a one-out home run to center field. Allyssa James then knocked a two-out single and scored on Chelsea Sheehan's RBI base hit to center.
It remained 2-2 until the fifth, when Manhattan went back in front. After Keller popped up to start the inning, Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch. She moved to second on Kristina Walraven's (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) groundout and scored when Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) ripped an RBI single to center field.
In the bottom of the fifth, Earley and Deanne Algeo ripped back-to-back singles leading off the inning. Eileen McCann followed with a grounder to short, and Donnelly got the lead runner at third for the first out. Up next was Jodi Petersen, who sent a chopper up the middle. In perfect position, Donnelly fielded it cleanly, stepped on second, and threw to first for the inning-ending double play. The Gaels eventually tied the game on Alyssa Maiese's solo home run leading off the bottom of the sixth.
With the score now deadlocked at 3-3, Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) led off the seventh inning with a single to left. Iona then pulled Maiese from the circle and went to First Team All-MAAC pitcher Sarah Jackson, who quickly got two outs. That brought up Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.), who was intentionally walked for the second time in the game. Donnelly followed with a grounder to short that looked like it would end the inning, but the throw to third was high and everybody was safe. However, the inning ended when Michel popped to short.
Sheehan led off the bottom of the seventh with a bunt single back to the circle. She moved to second on Earley's sacrifice bunt. Algeo then came to the plate and sent a grounder to short. Donnelly had trouble getting the ball out of her glove, and when the throw to first was offline, Sheehan came around with the winning run, eliminating Manhattan from the tournament.
Manhattan was limited to four hits in the game, singles by Evangelista, Donnelly, Keller and Rampino. Keller drove in a pair of runs and Evangelista added an RBI. Donnelly also scored a run. Sullivan got the start in the circle and went the first five innings. She allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out one. Rampino (7-10) suffered the hard-luck loss after yielding one unearned run on one hit while striking out two in 1.1 innings.
Iona had eight hits in the game, led by 2-for-3 efforts from Jansson and Sheehan. Jansson, Sheehan and Maiese each added an RBI and a run scored, while Allyssa James also scored a run. Maiese lasted six-plus innings in the circle, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Jackson (14-8) earned the win after facing four batters and surrendering just an intentional walk. With the win, the defending champion Gaels advanced to face Marist (33-21) for the right to take on Fairfield (31-20) in the championship round.
The Lady Jaspers set a school record with 12 conference wins and advanced to their third successive MAAC Tournament this season. Manhattan also finished above .500 in back-to-back years for the first time.
To follow Manhattan Athletics on Twitter, go to twitter.com/GoJaspers or visit Manhattan's Facebook fan page.
