Box Score
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Manhattan College softball team continued a busy stretch of five games in three days with a visit to LIU Brooklyn on Friday. However, the Jaspers (3-13) came out on the short end of the decision, as the Blackbirds (10-21) scored in every inning of a 9-3 triumph at LIU Field.
LIU Brooklyn built a 3-0 lead after two innings before Manhattan rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the third. Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) started the rally with a leadoff homer to left center. After Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, Conn.) singled with two out, Sydney Weedon (Santa Ana, Calif.) drew a walk and Andi Stallard (Katy, Texas) followed with a double down the line in left that knocked in a run.
However, the Blackbirds countered with a three-spot in their half of the third to run their advantage to 6-2. The Jaspers added a run on Elena Bowman's (San Mateo, Calif.) fourth-inning double, but LIU Brooklyn responded with a tally in the bottom of the fourth, then one more in the fifth and another in the sixth. Manhattan, meanwhile, didn't pick up another hit after Bowman's double, as the Blackbirds notched a 9-3 victory.
Bowen had two hits, including her second homer of the year, to pace the Jaspers offensively. Bowman and Stallard accounted for Manhattan's other two RBIs in the game, while Vazquez and Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, N.J.) each had a hit and a run scored. Danielle Gabriel (Island Heights, N.J.) (1-3) got the start in the circle and took the loss. She gave up six runs on six hits, struck out one and walked one in 2.1 innings of work. Anna Crowley (Eastchester, N.Y.) tossed the next three innings, allowing three runs (one earned) and five hits while striking out one and walking one. Erin Hamm (Collegeville, Pa.), meanwhile, made her season debut by pitching the final 0.2 innings.
The Blackbirds finished with 12 hits as a team. Lauren Morizi went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Jazmin Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Nichole Toven belted her first home run of the season and ended up with four RBIs for LIU Brooklyn. Nicole Archer also went deep for the Blackbirds. Shelley Procter started and lasted 2.2 innings in the circle. She surrendered two runs on four hits, struck out three and walked two. Heather White yielded a run in two hits in one inning of worked, and Alyssa Lanktree-Dotson (1-0) earned the win after striking out four and walking just one in 3.1 innings of no-hit, shutout ball.
The Jaspers and Blackbirds will conclude their home-and-home series with a doubleheader at Gaelic Park on Saturday. The twinbill gets underway at 12 p.m., and both contests will be webcast live on JasperVision.