Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
STONY BROOK, N.Y. - On Wednesday afternoon, the Manhattan College softball team used a four-run rally in the top of the 11th inning to post a 5-3 victory over Stony Brook at University Field. The victory, Manhattan's second 11-inning win of the season, extended the Lady Jaspers' winning streak to a season-high three games. The streak didn't reach four, however, as the second game of the doubleheader was called after five innings due to darkness with the Lady Jaspers (12-13-1) and Seawolves (18-12-1) tied 1-1.
The Lady Jaspers loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second, but Stony Brook pitcher Alyssa Struzenberg got out of the inning unscathed thanks to a strikeout and a pair of ground balls. The Seawolves then got on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Kendall Blumenthal reached on a leadoff walk, and she came across on Crista Cerrone's double.
Manhattan tied it with a run in the top of the sixth. After Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) flied to center for the first out, Melissa Cascio (Kings Park, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch. She was replaced by pinch runner Michelle Roemer (Ardsley, N.Y.), who moved to second on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Amanda Berrios (Carteret, N.J.) knocked in the tying run with a single down the right field line.
Each team rallied in the seventh inning, but both failed to score. In the top half of the inning, Manhattan loaded the bases with one out on a pair of walks and a Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) single. However, Stony Brook's Casey Jacobs induced two ground balls to end the threat. Shannon O'Shea then ripped a leadoff single for the Seawolves in the bottom of the seventh. However, after a sacrifice bunt moved pinch runner Gina Bianculli to second, the inning came to an end when Bianculli was called out for leaving to early on Taylor Chain's fly ball to right.
After three scoreless extra innings, Manhattan broke through with a four-spot in the top of the 11th. Jen Keller (Woodridge, N.J.) led off the inning and reached on an error, and the Lady Jaspers eventually loaded the bases with nobody out. After Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) struck out for the first out, Donnelly knocked a single to center that knocked in two runs. Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) followed with an RBI single, then Michel drove in another run with a double to right center.
The Seawolves wouldn't go down quietly, however, putting together a rally of their own in the bottom of the 11th. After a pair of walks and a Cerrone single loaded the bases, Bianculli drove in a run on a groundout to second. Stony Brook added another tally on Katelyn O'Donnell's RBI single, but Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) got Vicky Kavitsky to fly to right to end the game and give the Lady Jaspers a 5-3 victory.
Manhattan tallied 11 hits in game one, led by two each from Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.), Donnelly, Rahey and Michel. Donnelly also scored a run and had two RBIs. Sullivan (8-4) tossed 11 innings in the circle, giving up just one run on eight hits, striking out one and walking two.
Cerrone went 3-for-4 to lead the Seawolves, while Kavitsky and Brijette Martin both had two hits. Blumenthal scored a pair of runs for Stony Brook. Struzenberg went 6.2 innings, yielding one run on five hits, striking out nine and walking four. Jacobs (3-2) took the loss after surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits, striking out one and walking one in 4.1 innings of work.
The Lady Jaspers left the bases loaded in the top of the second in game two, then a Manhattan error led to a Stony Brook run in the bottom of the third. With daylight dwindling, it looked like that run might hold up for a 1-0 Seawolves victory, but Donnelly had other ideas. With two down in the top of the fifth, she crushed a solo home run to left center that tied the game at 1-1. The Seawolves put runners on second and third with two out in the bottom of the fifth, but those runners were left stranded when Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) got Blumenthal on a comebacker. The game was then called off and declared a tie on account of darkness.
Donnelly's home run was one of just five Manhattan hits in game two. Overall, she went 2-for-3 in the game. In five innings in the circle, Rampino gave up one unearned run on four hits, struck out two and walked two.
Jacobs belted two of the Seawolves' four hits in the game, while O'Donnell scored Stony Brook's only run. Colleen Matthes gave up one run and five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work.
Manhattan resumes Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action with a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. First, defending MAAC champion Canisius (19-13, 3-1 MAAC) visits Gaelic Park for a 12 p.m. twinbill on Saturday. Both games will be webcast live via the JasperVision package on www.gojaspers.com.
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