Manhattan Beats the Rain, Fairleigh Dickinson

RIVERDALE, NY – On Tuesday afternoon at Gaelic Park, the Manhattan College softball team (22-17) notched a 7-3 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (11-27).  Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was rained out.

With a thunderstorm in the forecast, the start time was pushed up one hour in an attempt to get at least one game in.  The move paid off, as the rain held off until the seventh inning.

Manhattan began the scoring in bottom of the second when Alexa Dawid (Milford, CT) was awarded home on a balk.  After the Knights tied it on Kellie Natham's sacrifice fly in the top of the third, the Jaspers went back in front with a pair of unearned tallies.  Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, CT) reached on an error to start the inning before Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT) walked and Dawid singled to load the bases.  Stephanie Reinhardt (Albany, NY) then lifted a sacrifice fly to center that gave Manhattan a 2-1 advantage.  The Jaspers picked up another run when Pitney scored from second on a Fairleigh Dickinson error.

The Jaspers increased their cushion to 7-1 with a four-spot in the fourth.  Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, NJ) drew a leadoff walk, the first of five free passes Manhattan would receive in the inning, to start the rally, and she scored when Vazquez reached on an error.  After three consecutive walks to Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, NY), Pitney and Dawid brought in two runs, Rachael Mumma (Mechanicsburg, PA) was credited with an RBI on a bases loaded walk.

It remained 7-1 until the top of the seventh, which is when the rain started.  The umpires tried to finish the game without interruption, but after Erin Hamm (Collegeville, PA), who had trouble gripping the wet ball, walked one batter and hit another, a delay was called.  Seven minutes later, the teams were back on the field, and Natham ripped a two-run single to make it 7-3 before Hamm retired Reanna Cervantes on a fly ball to left for the final out.  Game two was called almost immediately, as the rain picked up in the minutes after the contest ended.

Hamm (5-2), who was making just her fourth start of the season, tossed her first career complete game.  She allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits, struck out five and walked two.  As a team, the Jaspers drew 11 walks to go along with four hits.  Shannon Puthe (Mullica Hill, NJ) and Dawid each went 2-for-3 in the contest, while Vazquez scored two runs.

Six different Fairleigh Dickinson players had hits in the game, with Natham driving in three runs and Madaline Wilen scoring twice.  Baylee Ports (2-2) started in the circle for the Knights and took the loss.  She yielded seven runs (three earned) on four hits, walked seven and struck out two in 3.1 innings.  Cheryl Lopez held the Jaspers without a hit in 2.2 innings of shutout relief.  She issued four walks and registered two strikeouts.