Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
RIVERDALE, NY – On Thursday afternoon, the Manhattan College softball team picked up a big doubleheader sweep of defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Fairfield at Gaelic Park. Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, NY) pitched a six-hit shutout in the opener, a 3-0 Manhattan win, while Shannon Puthe (Valley Falls, NY) and Elena Bowman (San Mateo, CA) both went deep in game two, as the Jaspers (24-17, 8-6 MAAC) registered a 3-1 victory over the Stags (22-19, 8-6 MAAC).
Puthe got the Jaspers going immediately in game one. She led off the bottom of the first with a ground-rule double to the wall in right field, then moved to third on a Bowman groundout. Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, CT) was up next, and she ripped a single through the left side to knock in the game's first run.
Fairfield put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the third, but Matazinsky got out of the inning with a pair of ground balls. The Jaspers then picked up another tally in the bottom of the fourth. Matazinsky started the rally with a one-out single, and Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT) followed with a base hit to left. With two out, Alexa Dawid (Milford, CT) sent a single to right field that drove in Matazinsky. However, Pitney was thrown out at home trying to score from second on the play, ending the inning. Manhattan picked up another run in the fifth when Puthe singled down the right field line, stole second, and scored on Bowman's RBI single.
That was more than enough offense for Matazinsky, who was brilliant in her first shutout of the year. She scattered just six singles, as no Fairfield base runner got past first after the third inning. Matazinsky (8-6) struck out six and didn't walk a batter.
Offensively, Puthe paced the Jaspers with two hits, including her double, and she scored two of Manhattan's three runs. Bowman, Vazquez and Dawid all finished 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Matazinsky went 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored.
Alisha Marshall had two hits for the Stags. Destinee Pallotto (8-10) went the distance in the circle, allowing three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. Like Matazinsky, she didn't issue a walk.
In game two, the Jaspers, who were wearing special pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness, again got on the board in the bottom of the first. And again it was Puthe igniting the rally. She led off with a double and scored on Matazinsky's single to left center.
The Stags tied it on Filicia's two-out RBI double in the third, but Manhattan immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Puthe drove a fly ball to deep center field for her second home run of the season. Bowman followed with a long ball of her own, making it 3-1. It was her 52nd career homer, five shy of the MAAC record.
Starting pitcher Erin Hamm (Collegeville, PA), meanwhile, worked out a of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the top of the fourth, then induced a double play ball with runners on first and second with one out in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Fairfield loaded the bases with one out after an error, a single and a walk. Hamm then got Gianna Kinhofer on a grounder back to the circle before Nicole Capra's line drive to third ended the inning. Anna Crowley (Eastchester, NY) came out of the bullpen in the seventh and retired the Stags in order to finish off the sweep.
Manhattan recorded eight hits in game two, with Puthe finishing 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and an RBI. Matazinsky was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Bowman belted her 11th home run of the season. Hamm (6-2), who tossed a complete game in the win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday, went six innings against Fairfield. She surrendered one run on three hits, struck out three and walked two. Crowley picked up a strikeout during her perfect seventh to record her fourth save.
Filicia's RBI double was one of just three Fairfield hits in the contest. Courtney Hankins and Capra each had a single, while Rachel Sieber scored the Stags' run. Lauren Falkanger (11-3) tossed all six innings in the circle and yielded three runs on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
With the two wins, Manhattan moved into a tie with Fairfield for fourth place in the MAAC standings (Canisius is percentage points ahead of the Jaspers and Stags at 7-5 with two games in hand). However, because of the sweep, the Jaspers are guaranteed to have the tiebreaker should the squads finish even.
After playing seven straight at Gaelic Park, the Jaspers hit the road on Saturday for their final non-conference doubleheader of the season. Manhattan will take on Army West Point (31-17) starting at 1 p.m.