Miami, Fla. (March 10, 2006)- The Manhattan bats came alive early, and the Lady Jaspers held off a late Rhode Island rally to post an 8-6 win in the opening game of the Florida International Tournament. The win, the Lady Jaspers' first over the Rams since the 1995 season, also snapped a four game losing streak to URI, the last three coming via shutout.
Kiera Fox delivered the big blow with a two-run homer in the first.
Fox enjoys hitting at University Park, having connected on a grand slam at this tournament last season, and continued her hot hitting in the bottom of the first, sending a ball over the centerfield fence, scoring
Liz Strein in front of her, to give Manhattan an early, 2-0, lead.
The Lady Jaspes would double their advantage in the next frame, as
Devon Gustafson scored on an error, and Strein singled home
Stefanie Gozdziewski to make the score 4-0 in favor of the Kelly Green.
The Rams would score twice in the bottom of the third to cut the lead in half, but this was to be the Lady Jaspers' day, as Manhattan would score three more in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Kerry Cook sent a ball deep enough in the outfield to score Gozdziewski, with two more runners coming around on a throwing error on the play.
Manhattan would add another run in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Gustafson and
Tina Buyea before the Rams scored three in the fifth and one in the seventh to make the score 8-6, but
Jill Medea closed out the game with a strikeout to end the threat.
Medea went the distance, allowing three earned runs while tallying five strikeouts.
Gustafson went 3-3 with three runs, Buyea went 2-2 with a run and an RBI, and Strein went 3-3 with a run and an RBI to pace the offensive attack, which pounded out 12 hits.
Next up for Manhattan is the host school, with the game slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. today.
