Manhattan University Athletics

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

BETHLEHEM, PA – On Wednesday afternoon, the Manhattan College softball team began an eight-game road trip with a doubleheader at Lehigh.  After notching a 4-3 victory in the opener, the Jaspers (17-11) fell to the Mountain Hawks (25-9) by a 4-3 count in game two at Leadership Park.

Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, NY) gave Manhattan a 1-0 lead in game one with a solo homer leading off the second inning.  Elena Bowman (San Mateo, CA) then made it 3-0 an inning later with a two-run blast to right center.

Lehigh scored twice in the fourth to pull within 3-2 before the Jaspers picked up an insurance tally in the top of the sixth.  Matazinsky started the rally with a one-out single to left.  After Stephanie Reinhardt (Albany, NY) was hit by a pitch, Esther Gonsalez (San Antonio, TX) reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases.  Pinch hitter Anna Crowley (Eastchester, NY) came up next, and she sent a grounder towards second that drove in a run.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mountain Hawks had runners on first and second when Vicky Lattanzio singled to center.  Lehigh tried to score the tying run on the play, but Emily Cutler (Bloomingdale, NJ) gunned down Carolyn Wright at the plate to end the inning and preserve the 4-2 lead.

After Lehigh loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Jessica Calvini lifted a popup to shallow left.  Manhattan got an out on the play, but a run scored to make it 4-3.  With the tying run on third, Matazinsky got Wright swinging to seal the victory.

Matazinsky (5-4) tossed a complete game eight-hitter.  She allowed three runs, struck out five and walked three.  Matazinsky also went 3-for-3 at the plate with a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.  Bowman finished 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, her seventh of the year, while Alexa Dawid (Milford, CT) ended up 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Eight different Mountain Hawks had hits in the game, with Wright and Rachel Timberman each recording a double.  Calvini was 1-for- 4 with a run scored and an RBI.  Christine Campbell (14-5) took the loss in the circle after surrendering four runs on six hits in a complete game effort.  She struck out seven and walked one.

The Mountain Hawks loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the first in game two before Stephanie Kristo (San Jose, CA) struck out MacKenzie Velasquez to end the inning.  The Jaspers then scored the game's first run in the top of the second.  After Rachael Mumma (Mechanicsburg, PA) reached on an error, Cutler smacked a double down the left field line.  Lehigh tried to cut down Mumma at the plate, and the throw beat her, but she reached her hand in under the tag to put Manhattan in front.

From there, a pitcher's duel between Kristo and Emily Sorem emerged.  Kristo gave up just two singles (one on a bunt) thru four, while Manhattan wouldn't record another hit off Sorem until Matazinsky's one-out single in sixth.

However, Lehigh finally got to Kristo in the bottom of the fifth.  After singles by Ashley Quidolit and Katie Schultz, Lattanzio drove them both in with a double to left center.  That was the first of three consecutive RBI hits for the Mountain Hawks, as Lehigh built a 4-1 advantage and chased Kristo.  Erin Hamm (Collegeville, PA) came in and got Carissa Zito on a comebacker to end the inning before retiring the Mountain Hawks in order in the sixth.

Victoria Ross (Bloomfield, NJ) reached on an error to start the top of the seventh, and Crowley followed with a pinch-hit single.  After Cutler struck out, Dawid roped an RBI single to left that cut Manhattan's deficit to 4-2.  Bowman then ripped a single up the middle to bring the Jaspers within 4-3.  The Jaspers loaded the bases on Jenn Vazquez's (Fairfield, CT) single to center, which brought up Matazinsky.  She sent a grounder towards first, and Lehigh went home to cut off the tying run.  With two down, Reinhardt was called out on strikes to end the game.

Cutler's RBI double was the Jaspers' only extra-base hit in game two.  Dawid and Bowman each collected an RBI, while Ross, Mumma and Crowley scored the Manhattan runs.  Kristo (5-4) took the loss after yielding four runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings.  Hamm retired all four batters she faced, striking out one.

Velasquez went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Lehigh, while Lattanzio was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Calvini finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.  Sorem (11-5) was charged with three runs (one earned) on six hits in a complete-game effort.  She struck out 10 and walked three.