Wagner Outlasts The Jaspers

Staten Island, NY - Manhattan softball fell to Wagner in both games of a doubleheader Wednesday, March 27 in Staten Island. The Jaspers move to 9-13 on the year, while the Seahawks improve to 7-15. 

Manhattan's Christine Gebhardt (Middletown, NJ / Middletown North) and Daniela Chiorazzi (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) combined for four RBI on the day, while infielder Victoria Alonso (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) batted a team-best .833, going 5-6 and hitting one double. 

Game 1: Wagner 5, Manhattan 4

• Gebhardt and Chiorazzi compiled all four of their RBI (two each) in the first game of the day. Gebhardt went 2-4 with a home run, her first of the year, while Chiorazzi went 1-4. 
• Wagner struck first in the game, when Lauren Serrato nabbed a sacrifice hit to second base in the third inning. Gebhardt responded in the fifth with her two-run homer, putting the Jaspers up 2-1. 
• In the bottom of the fifth, Serrato came up big for the Seahawks again, singling to center field to tie the game. Two batters later, she scored the go-ahead run when teammate Kaila Smith singled to left field. 
• Next at bat, Natalie Del Ponte doubled to right center, scoring two and giving Wagner a 5-2 lead. 
• The Jaspers would not score again until the top of the seventh. Gebhardt reached on a fielder's choice, then advanced to second when teammate Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT / St. Joseph's) walked. Chiorazzi then singled to left field, scoring both baserunners and getting within one of the Seahawks. 
• But pitcher Ciera Luna was able to end the rally, forcing outs from the next two batters and ending the game. 
• Jessie Rising (Little Egg Harbor, NJ / Pinelands) earned the loss for Manhattan, moving to 3-4 on the year. She went 4.2 innings, letting up five runs on five hits and striking out four. Kayla McDermott (Garnerville, NY / North Rockland) pitched 1.1 innings for the Jaspers, facing four batters and striking out three. 

Game 2: Wagner 4, Manhattan 3

• Both the Jaspers and Seahawks remained scoreless into the fourth inning in game two. With two runners on, Alonso reached base on an infield error, allowing teammate Adriana Gambino (Stamford, CT / Westhill) to score from second, breaking the stalemate and putting Manhattan on the board at 1-0. 
• The next batter, Megan Gillooley (Clifton Park, NY / Shenendehowa), singled to to center field, driving in another run and extending the Jaspers' lead to 2-0. 
• The Seahawks nabbed one run in the fourth, when Hannah Lewis singled to short to cut the advantage to 2-1.
• Pitching in game two, McDermott struck out the next batter to keep Wagner from tying the score. But the Seahawks struck again in the bottom of the fifth, when Smith earned a sacrifice hit to tie the game.
• Tied going into the seventh inning, senior infielder Kat Prevo (San Diego, CA / Our Lady of Peace) singled to center field with two outs to score Pitney and put the Jaspers back on top. 
• Like game one, Serrato proved the hero for the Seahawks in the second contest. She drove in the tying run with a single down the left field line in the top of the seventh. Rising then entered the game in relief for McDermott, facing Amelia Van Orman, who tripled to center field, scoring Serrato to win the game. 
• McDermott incurred the loss for Manhattan. She is now 2-6 on the season. 

Up Next:
Manhattan begins MAAC play on Saturday, March 30, facing Quinnipiac in a doubleheader starting at 12:00 pm in Hamden, CT.