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FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Manhattan College softball team moved closer to a third straight appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament with a doubleheader split at first-place Fairfield on Sunday afternoon. The Stags (26-18, 10-2 MAAC) won the first game by a 3-1 count before the Lady Jaspers (21-21, 8-4 MAAC) rallied for a 4-3 victory in game two at Alumni Softball Field. Manhattan locks up a postseason berth with two wins in its final four conference games.
"We're really happy with a split," Head Coach Tom Pardalis said. "When you play the top team in the league, you'd like to have the sweep, but today was a good day. Fairfield's a top-notch team, so I'm really happy with what we did. We got good pitching from everyone today, and we got some clutch hits in the second game."
In game one, Fairfield ace Sarah Minice, who tossed a perfect game against Saint Peter's on Saturday, struck out the side in the top of the first. The Stags then took advantage of a pair of Manhattan errors to notch an unearned run in the bottom half of the inning. Fairfield made it 2-0 on Kristen Filicia's RBI double in the second.
Minice struck out seven of the first nine Manhattan hitters, but the Lady Jaspers finally got to her in the top of the fourth. Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) started the inning with a double to deep center, and she was driven in on Jaci Rahey's (West Milford, N.J.) RBI single to right center. Rahey took second on an error, but was left there, as Minice struck out the next three Manhattan hitters to maintain Fairfield's 2-1 advantage. The Stags added an insurance tally in the fifth when Mikalya Shumate singled and Lauren Liseth followed with a triple.
Manhattan managed just three hits in game one, as Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) had an infield single in the second before the back-to-back hits by Evangelista and Rahey in the fourth. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) pitched well, but took the loss. Donnelly (2-4) allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter.
Filicia was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for Fairfield, while Liseth went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Minice (14-7) retired the final 12 Manhattan batters after the Lady Jaspers' run in the fourth. She gave up just one run and three hits, while walking one and striking out 13.
The Lady Jaspers took an early lead in game two when Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) stroked a one-out single in the top of the second and Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) followed with her first home run of the season, a two-run blast to left field. After Fairfield got a run in the bottom of the second, Manhattan picked up another tally in the top of the third. Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) started the inning with a double that was barely fair down the right field line. Evangelista bunted her over to second, then Rahey lifted a sacrifice fly to left to drive in the run.
However, Fairfield tied it with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Kimi Kurata drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Shumate's RBI single. After Liseth flied out, Shumate stole second. She then came across with the tying run on Kristina Lingo's single to left.
It remained 3-3 until the top of the sixth, when Donnelly ignited a Manhattan rally with an infield single. After an Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) groundout moved Donnelly to second, Bowen stroked a single to center field that plated the go-ahead run. The Stags put the tying run on base when Filicia knocked a two-out single in the seventh, but Sullivan responded by striking out Shumate to end the game and snap Fairfield's nine-game MAAC winning streak.
Manhattan collected six hits in game two, as Donnelly and Bowen both went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Bowen also had the game-winning RBI. Sullivan was 1-for-3 with two RBIs on the home run. She also earned the win in the circle after tossing three innings of shutout relief. Sullivan (9-7) gave up just two hits and struck out one. Rampino went the first four innings in the circle, surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits, striking out one and walking one.
Shumate, Lingo and Alli Wigand all collected two hits for the Stags. Shumate was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Lingo went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Wigand had a 2-for-3 performance and scored a run. Rebecca Trott (3-5) allowed four runs on six hits, struck out five and walked one over seven innings of work.
The Lady Jaspers conclude their non-conference schedule with a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Albany (20-21) on Wednesday. The twinbill was originally scheduled for April 13, but was postponed due to inclement weather.
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