Manhattan-Siena Box Score
Manhattan-Marist Box Score
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Manhattan College softball team will be playing for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship for the first time in 15 years. Needing two wins to advance to the championship round, the sixth-seeded Jaspers (25-28) knocked off fourth-seeded Siena 5-4 in nine innings, then notched a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Marist (27-24) at Alumni Softball Field on Saturday afternoon to earn a rematch with No. 3 Iona (23-21) in the finals.
Because of the rain delays over the first three days of the tournament, the Jaspers were in the unenviable position of having to potentially play three games in a day. But in order to do that, Manhattan had to win the first two. The last time the Jaspers won two games in one day during the MAAC Tournament was in 1999, when they knocked off Canisius twice in the championship round to win their only MAAC title.
Up first was a matchup with Siena. The Saints loaded the bases in the top of the first, and two of those runners scored when Chelsey Drew's ground ball went just past Stephanie Reinhardt (Albany, N.Y.) and into center field. Manhattan countered with one in the bottom half of the inning, as Kate Bowen (Newtown, Conn.) drew a leadoff walk and Elena Bowman (San Mateo, Calif.) followed by ripping a double to left center.
Siena picked up an unearned tally in the top of the third and threatened to add some more when Lauren Milligan's bunt single loaded the bases in the fifth. However, Bowen got out of the jam by striking out pinch hitter Bridget Connors looking to end the inning.
The Jaspers then tied the game with a two-spot in their half of the fifth. Anna Crowley (Eastchester, N.Y.) drew a leadoff walk and was bunted over to second by Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, N.J.). Bowen then sent a comebacker back to the pitcher, and the Saints tried to get the lead runner at third. However, the throw was misplayed and went into left field, allowing Crowley to score and Bowen to take second. After Bowman walked, the runners moved to second and third on a passed ball. Amanda Paxson (Cedar Grove, N.J.) then delivered a single up the middle that knotted the score at 3-3.
After a scoreless sixth, both teams went down in order in the seventh, sending the contest into extra innings. Drew led off the inning with an infield single, and she moved to second on a wild pitch before being bunted over to third with one out. Bowen got a grounder to third for the second out, but Paige Lloyd hit one off Bowen's fingertips for a go-ahead single.
With Manhattan's season now in the balance, Jenn Vazquez (Fairfield, Conn.), who played her high school conference championship games in this stadium, led off the bottom of the eighth with a no-doubt-about-it shot to right center. It was her 10th home run of the year, and the first she hit somewhere other than Gaelic Park.
Cutler drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, putting Bowen in the unusual position of dropping down a bunt. Her first sacrifice of the year was a beauty, moving Cutler to second with one out. Bowman was then intentionally walked, and the runners took second and third on a wild pitch. However, Paxson sent a grounder to second with the infield drawn in and the runners had to hold. Siena intentionally walked Vazquez, putting the game on the bat of Andi Stallard (Katy, Texas). And she sent a ground ball up the middle to knock in the winning run and keep Manhattan's season alive.
Manhattan finished with nine hits in the 5-4 victory, led by Reinhardt's 3-for-4 effort. Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Bowman, Paxson and Stallard each had a hit and an RBI. In addition to scoring two runs, Bowen (12-7) tossed all nine innings in the circle and gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out five and walking five.
For the Saints, Drew ended up 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Milligan was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Lloyd added an RBI single, and starting pitcher Jessika-Jo Sandrini scored two runs. In the circle, Sandrini (20-12) gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits with seven walks and three strikeouts in the final game of her collegiate career.
In order to advance to the championship round, though, the Jaspers would then have to defeat top-seeded Marist. The contest with the Red Foxes would turn out to be a pitcher's duel, as Amy Bright (Manlius, N.Y.) and Melanie White threw up zero after zero.
Marist had a number of early scoring chances, leaving two runners on base in each of the first three innings. White, meanwhile, struck out seven of the first 10 Jaspers she faced, including fanning the side in the third. Bright responded with a three-strikeout inning of her own in the top of the fourth. The Red Foxes loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Bright got Janna Korak to pop up before fanning Rebecca Freeman looking to get out of the jam.
Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, the Jaspers broke through for what would turn out to be the game's only run. Bowen started the rally with a leadoff single to the gap in left center, and Bowman followed with a single down the right field line. Bowen took third on the play, but Paxson was unable to bring her home on a ground ball back to White. Vazquez was up next, though, and she singled off the end of the bat to bring Bowen home. Pinch runner Lauren Visconti (Stewartsville, N.J.) was thrown out trying to advance to third on the hit, and Stallard then popped to short to end the inning.
As it turned out, the one run was all Bright would need. She struck out Maureen Duddy looking for the first out in the seventh, then Paxson made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on Kyrsten Van Natta's drive to right. After a two-out single by Taylor Kuzma, Alyssa Zahka sent a fly ball to left that Stallard corralled to finish off the 1-0 victory and send Manhattan into the championship round for the first time since 1999.
Lewis held the Jaspers to just four hits in the game. Bowen had two of them, while Bowen went 1-for-3 with a run scored and Vazquez was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Bright (10-15), who eliminated Monmouth with a complete game victory on Friday, earned her second win of the tournament after scattering four hits, striking out eight and walking four in her second shutout of the year.
Kuzma collected three of Marist's four hits of the Manhattan hurler. Korak had the other Red Fox base knock. White (7-7) ended up with nine strikeouts and one walk in six innings. She took a tough-luck loss after yielding just one run and four hits.
Since Manhattan came out of the loser's bracket, the Jaspers will have to beat Iona twice in order to win the title. The Gaels defeated the Jaspers, 6-5, in Manhattan's opening game of the tournament on Wednesday.