Box Score
DELAND, FL – After hitting just one total home run over its first 11 games of the season, the Manhattan College softball team went deep four times on Sunday alone. Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT) had two of those long balls, as the Jaspers (5-7) ended the Stetson Westin Invitational with a 9-1 victory over Columbia (3-8) at Patricia Wilson Field.
Manhattan struck early with four runs in the top of the first. After Shannon Puthe (Mullica Hill, NJ) and Alexa Dawid (Milford, CT) both singled to lead off the game, Christine Gebhardt (Middletown, NJ) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that gave the Jaspers a 1-0 lead. Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, NY) followed with an RBI single before Pitney crushed the first of her two home runs, a deep blast to center that made it 4-0.
Victoria Ross (Bloomfield, NJ) got into the act in the top of the second, smashing a two-run blast to left. The Jaspers added another run when Puthe advanced all the way to third on an error after singling to right, and scored on Dawid's sacrifice fly. Pitney then led off the third with her second home run in as many at-bats. Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, CT) followed with a long ball of her own to put Manhattan up 9-1.
Columbia scored one run in the bottom of the first, but Matazinsky shut the Lions down the rest of the way. The Lions left two runners on in the fifth, as Manhattan completed the 8-1 victory.
All nine starters recorded either a hit, a run scored or an RBI. Pitney drove in three runs on her two homers, while Puthe finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Ross also collected two RBIs on her home run. In addition to going 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, Matazinsky (3-3) tossed a complete game in the circle. She allowed one run on six hits and struck out four.
Olivia Parker had three of Columbia's six hits. She also scored the Lions' only run on a Sommer Grzybek sacrifice fly. Starting pitcher Madison Canby (0-2) took the loss after yielding four runs on four hits in 0.1 innings. Tonia Wu pitched 1.2 innings of relief, surrendering five runs (four earned) on four hits with one walk and one strikeout. Maura Lynch held the Jaspers to one hit in three shutout innings.
The Jaspers will have an off day on Monday before concluding their Florida trip with a pair of neutral-site games on Tuesday. Manhattan will face Colgate (2-9) at 10 a.m., followed by a 12:30 p.m. contest against Yale (1-8).