Manhattan University Athletics

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Saturday afternoon, the Manhattan College softball team split a pair of games at the Capital Classic.  After routing Brown (2-11) 12-0, the Jaspers (3-8) suffered a 6-1 loss to host George Washington (8-15-1) at the GW Softball Field.

Manhattan began its day with a dominating performance against Brown.  The Jaspers scored four times in the bottom of the first, with Sydney Weedon (Santa Ana, Calif.), Mickayla Romero (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Stephanie Reinhardt (Albany, N.Y.) delivering RBI singles after Elena Bowman (San Mateo, Calif.) tallied Manhattan's first run on an error.  The Jaspers recorded another unearned tally in the second, as Meredith Bryant (Brielle, N.J.) smacked a leadoff double and came around on an error.

In the bottom of the third, Manhattan added five more runs.  Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, Conn.) started the rally with a two-out double, then, after a Reinhardt walk, Bryant ripped her second consecutive two-base hit.  Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) was up next, and she crushed a three-run homer to right center field that made it 9-0.  Bowman followed with her second home run of the year, a solo shot to center.  The Jasper offense wasn't done, though.  Bryant knocked in a pair of runs with her third straight double in the fourth.

Brown's offense, meanwhile, was completely shut down by Bowen (2-2).  The Jasper starter allowed just two hits, both singles, and the Bears only got a runner to third base once, when a leadoff single in the third was followed by two sacrifice bunt.  Fittingly, she recorded the final out herself, fielding a comebacker and making the toss to first to wrap up the 12-0, five-inning shutout.

Every batter in the Manhattan lineup scored at least one run, with Bowman, Vazquez and Bryant all crossing the plate twice.  Bryant finished 3-for-3 with her three doubles and three RBIs, while Bowen drove in three on her home run.  Bowman and Romero each recorded two hits, as the Jaspers collected 11 hits as a team.

Janet Leung and Jamie Pospishil had the two Brown hits.  Leah Nakashima (1-4) took the loss in the circle after giving up seven runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.  Gina Chieffalo surrendered five runs (four earned) and four hits while striking out one and walking one over 1.2 innings, while Jessica Cherness struck out two and walked one in her inning of work.

The matchup against George Washington started off as a pitcher's duel, as Danielle Gabriel (Island Heights, N.J.) and Meghan Rico matched zeroes through four innings.

Gabriel got some help from her defense to keep the Colonials off the board.  After Megan Linn doubled with one out in the bottom of the first, she was thrown out at home while trying to score on a single by Victoria Valos.  George Washington then loaded the bases in the second before the Gabriel induced back-to-back ground balls to end the threat.

Rico, meanwhile, didn't allow a hit until Weedon's one-out single in the fifth.  She was then lifted for pinch runner Lauren Visconti (Stewartsville, N.J.), who moved to second on Reinhardt's groundout.  Bryant followed with a single and Visconti tried to break the tie.  However, she was gunned down at the plate to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.  The Colonials then took the lead on Linn's RBI's double in the bottom half of the inning.

The Jaspers immediately responded in the top of the sixth.  Pinch hitter Anna Crowley (Eastchester, N.Y.) led off the inning with a single and Bowen followed with a double down the line in left.  After Bowman was intentionally walked to load the bases, Andi Stallard (Katy, Texas) lifted a sacrifice fly to center that evened the score at 1-1.

It wouldn't remain tied for long, though, as George Washington broke the game open with a five-spot in the bottom of the sixth.  Morgan Matetic connected on a two-run double, and Bradleigh Breland knocked a two-run single two batters later.  Linn capped the rally with an RBI single to right center.  Bryant doubled (her fourth of the day) in the top of the seventh, but was left on second base, as Rico struck out pinch hitter Amy Bright (Manlius, N.Y.) to finish off the Colonials' 6-1 victory.

Bryant had two of Manhattan's five hits against George Washington, while Stallard drove in Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, N.J.) with the Jaspers' only run.  Gabriel (1-1) yielded just two earned runs (six total) and eight hits while striking out four and walking out two in six innings.

George Washington collected eight hits as a team, with Linn going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs.  Breland and Mateic added two RBIs apiece.  Rico (5-6) earned a win against Manhattan for the second time in as many days after giving up one run on five hits in a complete game effort.  She also struck out four and walked two.