Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
RIVERDALE, NY – The Manhattan College softball team extended its winning streak to eight straight games with a sweep of Rider in the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader of the season on Sunday. Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, NY) threw a one-hitter in the opener, an 8-0 Jaspers victory. Manhattan (15-9, 2-0 MAAC) then recorded its fourth consecutive shutout with a 5-0 win over the Broncs (3-20, 0-2 MAAC) in game two at Gaelic Park.
“I'm really impressed with all of our pitchers,” Head Coach Tom Pardalis said. “We're firing on all cylinders right now. We aren't getting a lot of hits, but we're getting timely hits. And our pitching has been fantastic.”
In game one, Matazinsky allowed just an infield single in the top of the first. She hit the next batter to give Rider a pair of base runners before getting a strikeout to end the inning. Matazinsky then drove in the game's first run with a second-inning single. She advanced to third on an error, which allowed her to score on Kat Prevo's (San Diego, CA) sacrifice fly to left. The next batter, Victoria Ross (Bloomfield, NJ), struck out, but reached first on a passed ball. That put runners on the corners, and Stephanie Reinhardt (Albany, NY) came home on the back end of a double steal to make it 3-0.
After adding a pair on a two-run single by Ross in the fourth, Matazinsky ripped another RBI single in the fifth that increased the Jaspers' cushion to 6-0. Manhattan then scored twice in the sixth to bring the game to an early conclusion. Ross drew a leadoff walk, and Maddie Colombo (Los Gatos, CA) followed with a base hit to right. Christine Gebhardt (Middletown, NJ) drove an RBI single to left before Emma Hesse (Newton, NJ) ended the contest with her first collegiate hit, a walk-off double to right.
Matazinsky (8-3) struck out six and walked one in her complete game one-hit shutout. She also went 2-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored. Ross was 1-for-2 with a pair of RBIs, while Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT) finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Reinhardt added two runs of her own.
Delaney DeMello (0-5), whose first inning single was the only Rider hit off Matazinsky, got the start in the circle and lasted 3.1 innings. She allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits, struck out three and walked three. Elye Cuttic was charged with three runs, seven hits and a walk in her two innings of work. She was credited with strikeouts.
Manhattan took control of game two early on with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Shannon Puthe (Mullica Hill, NJ) led off with a triple, and Alexa Dawid (Milford, CT) followed with a single back to the pitcher. After Puthe scored on a Gebhardt groundout, Pitney lifted a sacrifice fly to right that made it 2-0. The Jaspers then added three more in the second, as Dominique Palagruto (Sewell, NJ) roped an RBI single before scoring one of two unearned tallies on a Rider error.
That was all the offense Kayla McDermott (Garnerville, NY) needed. She allowed just one Rider hit (to DeMello) over the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. The Broncs started the inning with a double and single, putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Rider then appeared to score on a double steal, but the play was nullified on umpire's interference, as the home plate umpire ruled he got in the way of Jenn Vazquez's (Fairfield, CT) throw. The batter ultimately grounded back to the circle and Manhattan recorded the out at home. On the next pitch, McDermott induced a double play ground ball to preserve the shutout streak.
Stephanie Kristo (San Jose, CA) relieved her in the sixth and worked two no-hit innings. The only blemish on her record was a one-out walk in the sixth, but the runner was quickly erased on the Jaspers' second double play in as many innings. Kristo pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, striking out Kiera Swank to cap the 5-0 victory.
At the plate, Palagruto finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Pitney was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Puthe, Dawid and Matazinsky, meanwhile, all tallied a hit and scored a run. McDermott (2-2) held the Broncs to three hits in five innings, and she struck out three.
DeMello, Swank and Brianna Parisio recorded Rider's three hits in the contest. Starting pitcher Emily Oltman (2-6) gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits with a walk and a strikeout in two-plus innings. Kaitlyn Kallert didn't allow a hit and only surrendered three base runners (on a walk, a hit batsman and an error) over the final four innings. She also collected six strikeouts.
On Monday, Manhattan will continue its MAAC slate with a 2 p.m. twinbill against Monmouth (7-16, 0-0 MAAC). The doubleheader was originally set for Saturday, but was postponed due to weather conditions. As a result of the schedule change, there will be no live video broadcast of the two games.
