Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - After playing through windy, rainy conditions at Columbia on Sunday, the Manhattan College softball team got perfect weather for its twinbill at Central Connecticut on Saturday. The Lady Jaspers (8-8) dropped the first game, 4-1, but rebounded with an 11-inning, 7-6 victory over the Blue Devils (10-18) in game two of the doubleheader at the CCSU Softball Field.
The Lady Jaspers took the lead with a second-inning run in game one. Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.), the current MAAC Player of the Week, got the inning started with a single. After Kelly Murray (Leominster, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice, Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) smacked an RBI double to right center. Central Connecticut got the run back on Samantha Budrick's RBI single in the bottom of the third.
Central Connecticut took advantage of a pair of Manhattan errors to take a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Kendall Sours was hit by a pitch to start the inning. She moved to second on a wild pitch, took third on an error, then scored on Rebecca Mussattli's RBI single. After Budrick was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Katherine Knowles hit into a fielder's choice, driving in another run. Mussatti then scored on a passed ball to make it 4-1. Manhattan put two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Central Connecticut's Liz Montemurro was able to get out of the jam each time, giving the Blue Devils the victory.
Rahey and Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) each went 2-for-3 in game one, as the Lady Jaspers outhit the Blue Devils 8-5. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) (2-2) tossed a complete game in the circle, giving up four runs (two earned) and five hits while striking out three and walking one in six innings.
Sours went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored for Central Connecticut, while Mussatti was 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Montemurro (5-10) went the distance, yielding one run on eight hits, striking out two and walking one.
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead in game two. Central Connecticut plated a run in the bottom of the first on a Kelsey Barlow double, then added three more in the second, as Mussatti and Budrick ripped back-to-back two-baggers.
After collecting just three hits over the first four innings, the Lady Jaspers put up a four-spot in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) got the rally started with an infield single, then Donnelly walked, and Murray followed with a single to right center to load the bases. Rahey was up next, and she deposited a grand slam over the right field fence to even the game at 4-4.
Central Connecticut put the go-ahead run on third in the bottom of the sixth, but Samantha Cieri was thrown out trying to score on an errant pitch to end the inning. Rahey walked in the top of the seventh, but Manhattan failed to score. Ashley Rampino (Manalapan, N.J.) then sent the Blue Devils down in order to send the game into extra innings.
The international tiebreaker rule (where, in extra innings, a runner is placed on second base at the start of each half inning) was in effect for this game, giving each side a number of scoring chances. After the Lady Jaspers went down in order in the top of the eighth, a Sarah Vlahos double in the bottom half of the inning put the winning run on third with one out. However, Erin Kelley sent a chopper to short, and Donnelly was able to cut-off the runner at home, then Molly Stefanski popped up to end the inning.
Erika Sullivan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was the runner placed on second in the top of the ninth, and she moved to third on a Walraven groundout. Donnelly followed with a single to left, giving Manhattan the lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Devils played small ball to tie the game. Sours moved Stefanski to third on a sacrifice bunt, and the run scored on an error.
Each side went down in order in the 10th, but Manhattan regained the lead with a two-spot in the top of the 11th. Sullivan moved pinch runner Amanda Babcock (Haverstraw, N.Y.) to third with an infield single, then Walraven reached on an error, allowing Babcock to come across. After another Central Connecticut error loaded the bases, Murray ripped an RBI single through the left side to give the Lady Jaspers a 7-5 lead. The Blue Devils got one back after a Vlahos single and a wild pitch, but Rampino got Kelly to pop up, then struck out Sarah Emery and Sours to shut the door and salvage a doubleheader split with a 7-6 victory.
Walraven went 3-for-6 in game two, while Murray had two hits. Rahey's grand slam was her only hit of the game, and Sullivan was 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Sullivan got the start in the circle and gave up four runs on five hits in two innings. Rampino (1-4) earned her first win of the year after tossing nine innings of effective relief. She yielded two unearned runs and six hits, struck out four and walked two.
Vlahos was 3-for-4 at the plate for the Blue Devils, while Mussatti and Stefanski both added two hits. Mussatti went 2-for-5 with a run scored and three RBIs. Abby Harpp (5-7) went all 11 innings in the circle, surrendering seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits. She struck out 10 and walked two.
Manhattan, which has split its last seven doubleheaders, returns to action with a non-conference twinbill at cross-Bronx rival Fordham (26-8) at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. The Rams have received votes in the national poll in each of the last three weeks.
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