Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Manhattan College softball team suffered its second heartbreaking defeat in a row on Friday afternoon. And this one was made even more painful because it knocked the Lady Jaspers (25-23-1) out of the 2010 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament. After retiring the Lady Jaspers on three pitches in the top half of the inning, the Purple Eagles (22-21) worked three walks, including one with the bases loaded, in the bottom of the eighth to notch a 2-1 win at the Demske Sports Complex. The Purple Eagles have now knocked Manhattan out of the MAAC Tournament in each of the past two seasons.
The game started off as a pitcher's duel, as Niagara's Cassie Stone and Manhattan's Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) both threw a perfect first. Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) roped a one-out single to left in the top of the second to snap the Manhattan offense's streak of 23 consecutive outs, but she was left stranded at first. Donnelly, meanwhile, tossed two perfect innings until Jenna Baker gave the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer to left in the bottom of the third.
In the top of the fifth, Manhattan got back-to-back singles from Kelly Murray (Leominster, Mass.) and Amanda Babcock (Haverstraw, N.Y.) to start the inning, prompting the Purple Eagles to pull Stone in favor of their ace, Second Team All-MAAC selection Julie DiMatteo. DiMatteo got Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) to ground out, but that allowed the runners to move up. Manhattan tried a squeeze bunt with Jocelin Whitmore (La Habra, Calif.) batting, but DiMatteo alertly threw home and the runners had to hold. That brought up Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) with the bases loaded and one out, and she lifted a fly ball to left field that drove in pinch runner Michelle Roemer (Ardsley, N.Y.) with the tying run.
Niagara had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on second and third with two out, but Laynie Stillman bounced back to Donnelly to end the inning and send the contest into extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Walraven was robbed of a certain double on an amazing catch by Kristin Kill in right field, then Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and Donnelly both grounded out to end the inning. DiMatteo threw just three pitches in the top of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kill drew a leadoff walk, the first walk Donnelly allowed in the game. After Maggie McDonald bunted her over to second, Manhattan intentionally walked MAAC Player of the Year Teresa Healy. Kayla Hines was up next, and she beat out a grounder to third to load the bases with one out. Becky Zill fouled off two pitches before taking three straight balls, including ball four, and Kill trotted home with the winning run.
Manhattan collected just four hits in the game (and a total of seven in the tournament), with Donnelly notching the only other Lady Jaspers hit, a one-out double in the third. Donnelly (7-12) also went the distance in the circle for the second straight game. She yielded two runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked three in 7.1 innings.
Zill went 2-for-3 with the game-winning RBI for Niagara, while Baker drove in the other run with her solo homer. Overall, Niagara had seven hits in the game. Stone surrendered one run on four hits and walked one in four-plus innings. DiMatteo (15-6) picked up the win in relief after striking out one and walking one in four hitless shutout innings.
With the win, Niagara moved on to face host Canisius (33-18) for the right to take on Iona (27-24) in Saturday's championship game. The Niagara-Canisius winner needs to defeat the Gaels twice to claim the MAAC Championship.
Manhattan, which loses just one player from this year's squad in 2011, qualified for the MAAC Tournament for the second straight year, marking the first time the Lady Jaspers advanced to the postseason in consecutive years since 2004-05. The 25 wins this season are Manhattan's most since going 26-24 in 2006, which is also the last time the Lady Jaspers finished above .500.
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