West Point, N.Y. (March 10, 2008) ? The Lady Jaspers opened their season today against Army, winning the first game 4-3 but dropping the second game 6-3. In the first game, freshman Jaci Rahey homered in the fourth and on top of a Lady Jaspers three run fifth inning, propelled them to victory. In the second game, the Lady J's offense was sparked by a 3-4 performance from outfielder Kristina Walraven as they fell to the Black Knights.
In game 1, Army struck first as the scored a run in each of the first and second innings. After Rahey's homer to center field cut the Lady Jaspers deficit in half, Manhattan put together a three run fifth inning which put them ahead 4-2. The Lady J's closed out the game thanks to shut down pitching by Melissa Donnelley. Donnelly was credited with the win, pitching a complete game, giving up only seven hits and striking out eight.
In the second game, Manhattan was the first to strike scoring in the 3rd. But Army turned it up, putting up three runs in the fifth, followed by two runs in the sixth. Manhattan would score again in the fourth off a single by Erika Sullivan. The Lady J's would put up one more run in the sixth as Monica Evangelista singled to drive in Nicole Michel. But the deficit proved to be too much as the Lady Jaspers could not mount the comeback.
Walraven went 5-8 on the day to spark Manhattan's bats. Rahey hit the first home run of the season as she finished the day 2-5 and driving in an RBI. The Lady J's defense was anchored by Donnelly's solid pitching as she had five assists in her complete game. Donnelly also tallied three more assists in the second game as a shortstop.
The Lady Jaspers start the season 1-1 and will look to improve on their record when they travel to participate in the Kennesaw State Tournament. The Lady J's will start the tournament off on Saturday, March 15 where they will first take on Birmingham Southern at 1:00 p.m. Their second game of the day will feature host school Kennesaw State University, game time is set for 7:00 p.m. Manhattan will close out the tournament on Sunday, March 16 as they will play Alabama State at 9:00 a.m. followed by an 11:00 a.m. contest against Coastal Carolina.
