Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College softball team resumed its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) schedule with a doubleheader at Siena on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Jaspers (3-24, 0-4 MAAC) ran into a hot Siena offense, as the Saints (10-21, 2-2 MAAC) notched a pair of victories at Siena Field. After winning the first game 7-1, Siena notched a 10-2, five-inning victory in game two of the twinbill.
Siena hit a pair of solo home runs in the first inning of game one, as Samantha Ray and Jessika-Jo Sandrini both went yard. The Saints added two more in the third before Manhattan trimmed its margin to 4-1 in the top of the fifth. Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) started the rally with a one-out single, then moved to second when Amanda Babcock (Haverstraw, N.Y.) walked. After Kelly Murray (Leominster, Mass.) singled to load the bases, Bowen scored on Meghan McDevitt's (Nutley, N.J.) groundout to second.
However, the Saints responded with a pair of unearned tallies in the bottom half of the inning. Siena then capped the scoring when Lauren Milligan came across on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Manhattan was held to five hits in game one, two of which were by Jen Keller (Woodridge, N.J.). Bowen (2-7) went 1-for-4 with a run scored and also got the start in the circle. She lasted three innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. Kelsi Redding (Tucson, Ariz.) surrendered three runs (one earned) and three hits while striking out two over the final three innings.
Natasha Powlowsky, Megan Volz, Stephanie Viggiano and Sandrini all tallied two hits for the Saints, who collected 12 as a team. Powlowsky also scored a pair of runs. Sandrini (4-11) went the distance in the circle, giving up one run on five hits, striking out three and walking three.
After Bowen scored on a Murray single in the top of the first in game two, Siena put up a four-spot in the bottom half of the inning. The big blow was a two-run homer to left center by Sandrini. Sandrini belted another two-run homer in the bottom of the second, as the Saints added three more runs to take a 7-1 lead.
A Siena error set up another Manhattan run in the top of the fourth. McDevitt reached on the miscue leading off the inning, then advanced to third on a single by Jocelin Whitmore (La Habra, Calif.). After Keller struck out, Mickayla Romero (Las Vegas, Nev.) knocked in the run with a groundout to short. Powlowsky countered with a two-run homer in the Siena half of the fourth, and the game ended on the eight-run rule when Samantha Ray drove in a run with a double in the bottom of the fifth that made it 10-2 in favor of the Saints.
As a team, Manhattan recorded just two hits in game two, the singles by Murray and Whitmore. Amy Bright (Manlius, N.Y.) went the first 1.2 innings in the circle before Redding took over. Bright (1-7) surrendered seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and walked two. Redding allowed three runs and four hits while striking out three and walking three over 2.2 innings of work in game two.
Siena also tallied 12 hits in game two, with Shannon Jones and Powlowsky both going 3-for-3. Jones scored three runs and drove in two, while Powlowsky had two runs and two RBIs. Sandrini was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBIs, and Ray went 2-for-3, scored a run, and knocked in another. Amanda Filippazzo (6-9) yielded two runs (one earned) on just two hits, struck out two and walked one in five innings.
The Jaspers take a break from MAAC play on Sunday, when they visit Hartford (4-31) for a 12 p.m. doubleheader. Manhattan swept the Hawks in a twinbill at Gaelic Park to open the 2011 season.
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