Manhattan University Athletics

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Manhattan College softball team entered the final day of the regular season in a three-way tie for first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).  Manhattan, Fairfield and Canisius all came into Sunday tied for the top spot, with the Jaspers and Stags meeting for a doubleheader at Alumni Softball Field.  Unfortunately, though, it was Fairfield that ended up as regular season co-champions after sweeping the twinbill.  The Stags (21-21, 15-15 MAAC) held off a Manhattan (25-18, 13-7 MAAC) comeback to take game one by a 4-3 count before notching a 7-1 victory in the second game.

Game one started off as a pitcher's duel between Amy Bright (Manlius, N.Y.) and Lauren Falkanger.  Thru four innings, neither hurler had given up a run, and each team had recorded only one single.

It was Bright who blinked first, as Fairfield put up four runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Nicole Capra reached on a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Molly Roche's pinch-hit RBI single to right.  Lauren Filicia followed with a triple, and she came across on Sammy Ruffolo's sacrifice fly.  After a Tori Reed single, Sam Frungillo made it 4-0 Stags with a base hit up the middle.

Still trailing 4-0, the Jaspers loaded the bases on three straight walks in the top of the seventh.  Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, N.Y.) then got Manhattan on the board with a single to left, bringing up pinch hitter Anna Crowley (Eastchester, N.Y.).  She sent a grounder to second that went for a double play, but a run scored, cutting the Jaspers' deficit to 4-2.  Andi Stallard (Katy, Texas) followed with a pinch-hit single that brought Manhattan within one, but the next batter, Mickayla Romero (Las Vegas, Nev.) grounded to short to end the game.

Manhattan was held to just five hits, all singles, in the game.  Matazinsky finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Stallard was 1-for-1 with an RBI.  Amanda Paxson (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, N.J.) had the Jaspers' other two hits in the contest.  Bright (14-8) went 4.2 innings in the circle and took the loss.  She surrendered four runs on five hits, struck out four and walked three.  Erin Hamm (Collegeville, Pa.) closed out the fifth before Danielle Gabriel (Island Heights, N.J.) retired all three batters she faced, including one via the strikeout.

Filicia had two of Fairfield's five hits.  She also drove in a run and scored another.  Frungillo was 1-for-2 with an RBI, while Reed finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.  Falkanger (9-10) earned the win after allowing three runs on three hits in six-plus innings.  She struck out three and walked three.  Nicole Gardon gave up two hits in the seventh and was credited with the save.

Fairfield got on the board right away in game two, as Frungillo roped a two-run double that was just fair down the left field line in the bottom of the first.  The Stags then made it 3-0 on Kristen Ball's RBI triple in the third.

In the top of the fourth, the Jaspers got one run back, as Paxson hit a one-out single and moved to third on a base hit by Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, Conn.).  Sydney Weedon (North Tustin, Calif.) then lifted a sacrifice fly to left that brought Manhattan within 3-1.  However, Roche hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, and the Stags added another run on Frungillo's RBI double in the sixth.  Reinhardt singled with two out in the top of the seventh, but there would be no Manhattan rally, as the Stags secured a first-round bye in the MAAC Tournament with a 7-1 victory.

Cutler had two of Manhattan's five hits in game two, as the Jaspers collected just 10 hits combined in the doubleheader.  Paxson was 1-for-3 with a run scored, while Vazquez and Reinhardt added singles and Weedon knocked in the Jaspers' only run.  Matazinsky (9-6) lasted 2.2 innings in the circle.  She allowed three runs on six hits, struck out one and walked two.  Gabriel tossed two innings of relief, yielding three runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout, before giving way to Crowley.  She gave up one run on two hits and struck out one in 1.1 innings.

As a team, Fairfield pounded out 12 hits in game two.  Frungillo and Roche each went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs, while Reed was 3-for-4 with three runs scored.  Ruffolo also collected a pair of hits and scored a run for the Stags.  Destinee Pallotto (9-8) tossed a complete game five-hitter.  She surrendered only one run, struck out eight and walked one.