KISSIMMEE, Fla. ? The Manhattan College softball team took advantage of the long ball on Saturday afternoon, and left Florida with a victory as a result. On the strength of two two-run homers, the Lady Jaspers (4-14) posted a 4-2 win over Fairleigh Dickinson (4-15) in their final contest at the Rebel Spring Games. Earlier in the day, Manhattan suffered a 3-1 loss to Green Bay (10-9) at the Osceola County Sports Complex.
The Lady Jaspers defeated the Phoenix on Friday, but were held in check by Green Bay starter Amanda Margelofsky in this one. Margelofsky (5-1) went the distance, allowing just six Manhattan hits. The Lady Jaspers scored their only run in the bottom of the seventh when Melissa Cascio (Kings Park, N.Y.) knocked a double to left field, then came home on a pinch-hit single by Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.).
The Phoenix got on the board first with an unearned run in the top of the third. Leadoff hitter Melani Niederer singled to open the inning and moved to second on an error. The Lady Jaspers used an unusual double play to end the inning, but not before Niederer scored the game's first run. Sara Junion sent an RBI single to right field, allowing the run to come across. Manhattan right fielder Amanda Berrios (Carteret, N.J.) gunned down Krissy Hanson trying to move from first to third on the play, then Junion was thrown out at second when she tried to advance.
An error and a sacrifice bunt got another Green Bay rally started in the fourth. Mollie Kaebisch followed with an RBI double to increase Green Bay's lead to 2-0, then Kaebisch came around on an RBI double by Kendra Woepse.
Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) suffered a tough-luck loss in the circle for the Lady Jaspers. She tossed all seven innings, scattering nine hits. All three of Green Bay's runs were unearned. Sullivan (0-5) also struck out one and walked one.
Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit for the Phoenix. Schleicher was the only player to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Kaebisch was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
Manhattan threatened to strike early against FDU, loading the bases on three walks in the top of the first. However, FDU starter Trina Fields got out of the jam by striking out Devon Gustafson (Peoria, Ariz.). The Lady Jaspers did score in the top of the second. Kara Cokeley (Pearl River, N.Y.) roped a one-out double, and Amanda Genovese (Bethany, Conn.) followed with a two-run blast to left center that gave the Lady Jaspers a 2-0 lead. After Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) reached on an error to lead off the top of the third, starting pitcher Rampino helped her own cause when she belted a two-run shot to left center that doubled Manhattan's lead to 4-0.
That was all the offense Rampino needed. After back-to-back singles in the bottom of the second, she retired nine FDU batters in a row before a one-out walk to Kirsten Shreve in the fifth. Rampino got the next three hitters after the walk before Ali Keltos singled in the bottom of the sixth.
The Knights weren't able to break through against Rampino until the bottom of the seventh, when pinch hitter Meghan Doherty reached on a leadoff error. After a Shreve single and a wild pitch, Doherty scored on Dana Walker's groundout. FDU tallied another unearned run on Brittany Sheppard's pinch-hit RBI single.
Manhattan managed just four hits in the game, three of which went for extra bases. In addition to the two home runs and Cokeley's double, Cokeley added a single to complete a 2-for-3 afternoon. Rampino (3-3) went 1-for-3 at the plate with the two-run homer and tossed all seven innings in the circle, surrendering five hits and two unearned runs while striking out five and walking one.
Five different FDU players had one hit, as the Knights outhit the Lady Jaspers 5-4. Sheppard was 1-for-1 with an RBI, while Shreve went 1-for-2 and scored a run. Fields (1-5) gave up four runs (three earned) and four hits with 11 strikeouts and six walks in seven innings.
The Lady Jaspers won two of their final four games in Florida and compiled a 3-11 record on the trip. Manhattan returns north to continue its season on Tuesday with a 5 p.m. doubleheader at Army (9-14). The Lady Jaspers and Black Knights played on March 16, with Army notching a 6-1 victory.
