Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
QUEENS, N.Y. - After 11 innings and two-and-a-half hours, the Manhattan College softball team (1-16) dropped a heartbreaking 8-4 decision to St. John's in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. The Red Storm (9-16) then notched a 10-2 victory in the nightcap at Red Storm Field.
St. John's took a 1-0 lead in game one on Dominique Marcelino's solo home run in the bottom of the first. However, the Jaspers answered back with a three-spot in the fifth. Mickayla Romero (Las Vegas, Nev.) started the rally with a one-out single up the middle. After Jocelin Whitmore (La Habra, Calif.) drew a walk, Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) delivered her second home run of the season, a three-run blast to center field that put the Jaspers in front 3-1. Manhattan added another tally in the top of the sixth on Amanda Paxson's (Cedar Grove, N.J.) first career home run.
The Red Storm comeback began in earnest with a run in the bottom of the sixth that cut the Jaspers' advantage to 4-2. After Manhattan went down without scoring in the top of the seventh, Ellen Czuba started the bottom half of the inning with a single up the middle. Marcelino then singled, giving the Red Storm runners on first and second with nobody out. Kristi Cady flied to center for the first out of the inning, but Kacee Cox followed with an RBI double that made it 4-3. St. John's tied the game on Jackie Reed's RBI single that moved Cox to third with the winning run. However, she was left stranded at third base, as Bowen got a pair of groundouts to send the game into extra innings.
Both pitchers, Bowen and the Red Storm's Ashley Beza, threw up zeroes for three extra innings before St. John's broke through in the 11th. Cady led off the inning with a double, and Cox was then intentionally walked to set up a double play. After Reed singled through the drawn-in infield to load the bases, Chrissy Montez belted a walk-off grand slam to left field, giving the Red Storm an 8-4 victory.
Paxson had two of the Jaspers' nine hits in game one, going 2-for-5 at the plate. Bowen also went 2-for-5, and she drove in three runs with her homer. She also went all 10 innings in the circle, yielding eight runs on 17 hits, striking out five and walking four.
Reed went 4-for-6 at the plate for the Red Storm, while Marcelino and Montez were both 3-for-5. Montez also scored a pair of runs and drove in four. Cox and Czuba added two hits apiece, as the Red Storm collected 17 hits as a team. Beza (5-9) tossed all 11 innings in the circle. She surrendered four runs on nine hits while striking out 11 and walking three.
St. John's struck first in game two with a three-spot in the bottom of the second. However, Manhattan immediately responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Sydney Weedon (Santa Ana, Calif.) started the rally with a leadoff single, then Amanda Berrios (Carteret, N.J.) and Amanda Babcock (Haverstraw, N.Y.) both walked to load the bases with one out. Weedon then came across when Paxson drew the Jaspers' third successive walk. Carla Velasquez (Miami, Fla.) followed with a single up the middle that made the score 3-2.
The Red Storm answered back, though, putting four runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning. St. John's added three more in the bottom of the fourth to take a 10-2 lead, and, outside of a two-out walk to Paxson, the Jaspers went down in order in the top of the fifth to end the contest.
Manhattan was held to just a pair of hits in game two, Weedon's single and Velasquez's RBI single. Romero (0-3) got the start in the circle and took the loss. She gave up 10 runs on 13 hits and walked one in 3.2 innings. Bowen (1-3) faced the final two hitters and surrendered one hit.
Six different Red Storm players had a pair of hits in game two, as St. John's collected 14 base knocks as a team. Marcelino and Cady both scored a pair of runs, while Reed was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Montez also drove in two, and Erin Burner went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs. Aleshia Link went the first 2.1 innings in the circle. She yielded two runs on one hit, struck out three and walked five. Fran Carrullo (2-4) earned the win after tossing 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. She struck out three and walked two.
The Jaspers return to action with a 12 p.m. doubleheader at Lafayette (2-10) on Saturday. Manhattan picked up a 1-0 victory over the Leopards during the Rebel Spring Games on March 12.
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