Manhattan-FDU Box Score
Manhattan-Cornell Box Score
KISSIMMEE, Fla. ? The Manhattan College softball team has found itself drawing the short straw of late. The Lady Jaspers (2-12) have lost eight straight games, but seven of those eight losses have been by one or two runs. That was the case again on Thursday, as the Lady Jaspers dropped a pair of contests at the Rebel Spring Games. Fairleigh Dickinson (4-11) knocked off Manhattan by a 3-2 score, then the Lady Jaspers dropped a 2-0 decision to Cornell (15-5) in their second game of the day at the Fortune Road Complex.
Fairleigh Dickinson jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning in Manhattan's first game. After a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases with one out, the Knights got on the board thanks to an RBI single from Lindsay Glidden. FDU added a second run when Kim Carbaugh drew a bases loaded walk.
The Lady Jaspers got one back in the bottom of the first. Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) drew a leadoff walk to get the rally started. Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) then dropped down a bunt and the Knights tried to get Walraven at the second, but she beat the throw. The runners moved up on a wild pitch, then Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) walked to load the bases with nobody out. Walraven came around when Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) grounded out, but that was all Manhattan would get, as FDU starter Kirsten Shreve got out of the inning with a groundout and a popup.
FDU tacked on another run in the top of the third when Glidden's double to left knocked in Lauren Hamilton. Carbaugh followed with a single to center that put runners on the corners with one out and knocked Rampino out of the circle. Sullivan took over and got out of the jam by forcing Shreve to hit a foul popup behind the plate, then striking out Brittany Sheppard.
Manhattan got a run back with a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth. Velasquez got the rally started when she was hit by a pitch. Lauren Mende (Ramsey, N.J.) was called upon to pinch run and promptly moved to second on a wild pitch. After Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) walked, Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) roped an RBI single to right field. The rally ended when Kara Cokeley (Pearl River, N.Y.) struck out to end the inning.
Danielle Just (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) got another Manhattan rally started with a pinch-hit single leading off the bottom of the seventh. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then Amanda Genovese (Bethany, Conn.) roped a pinch-hit single to left that put the winning run on base with one out. After Donnelly struck out, Cokeley walked to load the bases. It wasn't to be for the Lady Jaspers, however, as Devon Gustafson (Peoria, Ariz.) went down on strikes to end the game.
Donnelly was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Lady Jaspers, who managed five hits as a team. Walraven went 1-for-3 at the plate and scored a run. Rampino (1-3) took the loss after yielding three runs and five hits while striking out one and walking four in 2.1 innings. Sullivan pitched the final 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts.
Glidden had three of FDU's eight hits, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs. Hamilton went 1-for-3 and scored two runs, while Carbaugh was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Shreve (2-4) scattered five hits and surrendered two runs over seven innings. She countered six walks with 11 strikeouts.
In their second game of the day, the Lady Jaspers had no answers for Cornell's Elizabeth Dalrymple. Dalrymple (6-1) went the distance and only allowed one hit, a second-inning Cokeley single, which accounted for Manhattan's only base runner of the game. She struck out 10 Lady Jaspers to earn the win.
Cornell scored both of its runs in the top of the first. Alyson Intihar, Marissa Amiraian and Elise Menaker, the first three batters of the game, all singled to load the bases for Ashley Garvey. Garvey reached on an error, allowing Intihar and Amiraian to score what turned out to be the only two runs of the game.
After a shaky first inning, Donnelly (1-5) settled in, allowing just two hits over the remainder of the game, and none after the third inning. She fanned two and didn't walk a batter to take a tough luck loss.
The top four hitters in Cornell's lineup had all five of the Big Red's hits. Intihar was 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Garvey went 1-for-3 and had the game's only RBI.
Manhattan continues its Florida swing with a pair of contests on Friday. The Lady Jaspers take on Green Bay (8-7) at 11 a.m., then meet Hartford (2-7) at 3 p.m. Manhattan faces FDU again on Saturday.
