Riverdale, NY - Manhattan's
Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT / St. Joseph's) earned her 100th career RBI Sunday, blasting a two-run homer to center field in the Jaspers' first game of a doubleheader with Morgan State.
Pitney recorded six RBI in the Jaspers' sweep of the Bears, while teammate
Christine Gebhardt (Middletown, NJ / Middletown North) earned a team-high four runs and a slugging percentage of 1.167, also putting one over the outfield wall during the afternoon.
Game 1: Manhattan 10, Morgan State 5
- The Jaspers battled not only the Bears in game one, but also periods of hard rain throughout the seven innings. Manhattan fell behind in the first when Morgan State's Amy Pacheco nabbed an RBI single.
- Pitney ensured the Bears wouldn't hold the lead for long, as she sent her homer over the centerfield wall in the bottom of the first, putting the Jaspers up 2-1. She increased the lead in the second, reaching base on an error and driving in two more runs to make the score 4-1.
- Up 9-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Gebhardt homered with no one on for Manhattan to put the Japers in double digits. It was her second home run of the year.
- The Bears would score twice in the seventh, once on a home run by Giselle Alvarez and then on another RBI single from Pacheco. But Morgan State failed to put together a challenging run, and were unable to force the game into extra innings.
- Starting pitcher Kayla McDermott (Garnerville, NY / North Rockland) went 6.2 innings for Manhattan, striking out three and walking three of 31 batters faced.
- Jessie Rising (Little Egg Harbor, NJ / Pinelands) relieved McDermott in the bottom of the seventh, facing just two batters and securing a strikeout for the final out of the game.
- McDermott earned the win in game one, moving to 3-7 this season from the pitcher's circle.
Game 2: Manhattan 2, Morgan State 1
- With the weather clearing, game two proved to be more of a nail biter than the previous contest, with both teams rendered scoreless until the top of the sixth.
- Rising, Manhattan's game two starter, gave up just three hits and faced just 18 batters heading into the sixth inning.
- Morgan State's Alvarez reached base on a walk with one out in the top of the sixth. She advanced to second on a passed ball, then stole third. The next batter, Damishah Charles, then singled to center field to score Alvarez, earning the first run of the game and putting the Bears up 1-0.
- Charles was caught stealing on the next play for the second out of the inning. Rising then forced a ground out from Pacheco, putting the Jaspers at bat.
- Pitney walked to lead off for Manhattan in the bottom of the sixth. She then advanced to second on a single from Adriana Gambino (Stamford, CT / Westhill). Both runners advanced on the next play, a passed ball that put two Jaspers in scoring position.
- Daniela Chiorazzi (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) lined out to left field for Manhattan's first out. Up next, Morgan Sgarlata (Oneida, NY / Herkimer County CC) walked to load the bases, followed by a walk for Megan Gillooley (Clifton Park, NY / Shenendehowa) that drove in the tying run.
- Next up, Victoria Alonso (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Gambino, taking a 2-1 lead from the Bears with what would be the game winner.
- Rising faced four batters in the bottom of the seventh, striking out the lead off, Haylee Bobos, then forcing Gabrielle Gorosave to line out to second base. The final batter, Caitlyn Williams, grounded out to end the game.
- With the win, Rising improves 4-5 this season.
Up Next:
Manhattan will host Columbia in a single game match-up Wednesday, April 3. First pitch will be at 4:00 pm at Gaelic Park.
