Riverdale, NY - Manhattan softball's six seniors finished their collegiate careers Saturday, splitting with Siena in a MAAC doubleheader at Gaelic Park.
The Jasper senior class, which included
Morgan Cole (Yorktown Heights, NY / Fordham),
Esther Gonsalez (San Antonio, TX / James Madison),
Stephanie Kristo (San Jose, CA / Archbishop Mitty),
Dominique Palagruto (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township),
Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT / St. Joseph's) and
Kat Prevo (San Diego, CA / Our Lady of Peace), finished out its season 21-29 and 8-12 in MAAC play.
Individually, Pitney left her mark on the Jasper record books, finishing her career with 139 runs (third all-time), 29 home runs (tied for third all-time) and 119 RBI (fifth all-time). She also set Manhattan's single-season walks record this year with 59, flying past the record of 51 she set last year and leading the nation in walks per game.
Freshman
Annie Moore (Northridge, CA / El Camino Real) completed her first year in Riverdale with 13 doubles, tying for sixth on the program's single-season list. Her 38 RBI was a team-high, just two short of the program's single-season top 10. Classmate
Megan Gillooley (Clifton Park, NY / Shenendehowa) landed in seventh on the Jaspers' single-season stolen bases list, ending the season with a team-best 18. Fellow freshman
Jessie Rising (Little Egg Harbor, NJ / Pinelands) and junior
Kayla McDermott (Garnerville, NY / North Rockland) each made 33 appearances in the pitcher's circle for Manhattan, good for a three-way tie for fifth place on that single-season list.
Under .500 in MAAC play, the Jaspers will not qualify for the six-team conference playoffs this season.
Game 1: Manhattan 2, Siena 0
- Starting in the circle for Manhattan in game one, Rising two-hit the Saints and struck out eight, her second-highest single-game strikeout total of the season. In 7.0 innings, she faced just 24 batters, walking two, one intentionally, and earned her second shutout of the year.
- The Jaspers broke the scoring stalemate in the second inning, when Pitney walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run for Manhattan and take a 1-0 lead.
- Facing trouble with a runner on third and one out in the top of the sixth, Rising struck out a Siena batter before intentionally walking Madysen Cossack, the MAAC's leading hitter. Rising then retired the next batter, who grounded out to first base.
- Still up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, short stop Victoria Alonso (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland) singled and then advanced to second on a sac bunt by Gillooley. Palagruto then pinch hit, knocking a hard hit double to center field to score Alonso and give the Jaspers a 2-0 cushion.
- Rising faced three batters in the top of the seventh, retiring them in a row. She finishes the season at 8-11 in 19 starts and 123.0 IPs.
Game 2: Siena 3, Manhattan 1
- With Pitney and Moore on in the bottom of the first, Christine Gebhardt (Middletown, NJ / Middletown North) singled up the middle to drive in a Jasper run and put Manhattan on the board early in game two.
- The Jaspers would hold the lead until the top of the fourth, when Siena nabbed two back-to-back ground rule doubles to tie the game.
- In the fifth, the Saints would pick up two more runs on three hits, using back-to-back bunts to advance a runner to scoring position. An RBI triple gave the Saints the go-ahead run, while another bunt snuck the runner home from third, making it 3-1 Siena.
- Manhattan was able to get two baserunners, one in scoring position, on in the bottom of the seventh, but the inning ended when a hard hit fly ball to right field by Pitney was snagged for the third out.
- Starting pitcher McDermott went a full game, striking out four of 28 batters faced and walking two, one intentionally. She finishes the season with a team-high nine wins (9-13) in 20 starts and 140.2 IPs.
Siena ends its regular season at 19-23 overall and 11-7 in the MAAC.
