Manhattan University Athletics

Manhattan-Mount St. Mary's Box Score
Manhattan-Morgan State Box Score

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The long ball was on full display at Gaelic Park on Sunday afternoon.  The Manhattan College softball team connected for five home runs in victories over Mount St. Mary's and Morgan State.  The Jaspers (4-3) went deep four times against the Mountaineers (1-12) in a 15-6 triumph before notching an 8-0 win in the matchup with Morgan State (1-10).

After the Jaspers put a run on the board in the first inning against Mount St. Mary's, the Mountaineers responded with a six-spot in the top of the second.  The big blow in the inning was a three-run homer by Rachel Teti.  However, the Jaspers countered with two in the bottom of the second.  Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, N.J.) smacked an RBI single to left center before Elena Bowman (San Mateo, Calif.) drove in a run on a ground ball to short.

In the bottom of the third, Manhattan erupted for six runs.  Sydney Weedon (North Tustin, Calif.) led off the inning with a single to center, then Andi Stallard (Katy, Texas) walked and Anna Crowley (Eastchester, N.Y.) singled to load the bases.  With two out, Mickayla Romero (Las Vegas, Nev.) deposited a pitch over the left field fence for a go-ahead grand slam.  Bowman followed with a blast to left center, and Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, Conn.) made it back-to-back-to-back home runs with a shot to deep left.

Romero and Bowman were at the heart of another Manhattan rally in the fourth.  Stallard walked and Cutler singled before Romero's ground ball through the middle went for a two-run single.  Bowman then crushed her second home run of the game, a long shot to straightaway center field that made it 13-6 in favor of the Jaspers.  Bowman ended the contest in her next at-bat, as she ripped a two-run double to right center, giving Manhattan a 15-6 victory.

As a team, Manhattan had 14 hits off the Mountaineers, as the top five hitters in the Jaspers' lineup had multi-hit efforts.  The duo of Romero and Bowman, Manhattan's No. 2 and 3 hitters, went a combined 6-for-9 with three homers, five runs scored and 12 RBIs against Mount St. Mary's.  Romero finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and six RBIs, while Bowman was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and six RBIs.  Cutler, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Stallard also scored three times.  Amy Bright (Manlius, N.Y.) (2-2) earned the win in the circle.  She tossed a five-inning complete game, yielding six runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.

Mount St. Mary's recorded eight hits in the contest.  Jessica Greenewald ended up 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Teti was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer.  Starting pitcher Danni Cummings (0-5) lasted 2.2 innings.  She gave up nine runs on nine hits and walked three.  Sam Lichtner allowed six runs on five hits and six walks in 1.2 innings of work.

Morgan State starting pitcher Amy Begg held the Jaspers at bay until the third, when Manhattan put up a three-spot.  Stephanie Reinhardt (Albany, N.Y.) started the rally with a ground-rule double to left center and was bunted over to third by Cutler.  Romero then knocked in Reinhardt with a double to left before Bowman connected for her third home run of the day, a two-run blast to left field.

That was just the start of it for the Jaspers, as Manhattan scored four more times in the fourth.  Reinhardt walked and Cutler reached on an infield single before Romero reached when the Bears tried to get the lead runner at second base on a ground ball up the middle, loading the bases for Bowman.  She hit a sharp line drive that was snagged at third, but Vazquez followed with a blast to left center that just missed being a grand slam by inches, hitting the top of the fence for a bases-clearing double.

Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, N.Y.), meanwhile, was cruising in the circle.  After giving up two hits in the first and a leadoff walk in the second, she retired 13 Bears in a row before a one-out single by Claudette Tanabe-Smith in the sixth.  The game came to an early conclusion in the bottom of the sixth, when Vazquez knocked in Romero, who had reached on an error.

Amanda Paxson (Cedar Grove, N.J.) was the only Jasper with a multi-hit effort against Morgan State.  She ended up 2-for-3 with an RBI.  Vazquez finished 1-for-4 with four RBIs, while Bowman was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.  Romero went 1-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Reinhardt crossed the plate twice.  Matazinsky (1-0) earned her first collegiate win and shutout, allowing just three hits and a walk in six innings.

Tanabe-Smith recorded two of Morgan State's three hits.  The only other Bears to reach base were Audrianna Alvarez with a first-inning single and Danielle Pitpit, who walked in the second.  Begg (1-5) gave up seven runs on eight hits, struck out one and walked three in four innings before being relieved by Kelly Drake.  Drake surrendered an unearned run while striking out two and walking one in 1.1 innings.