Softball Falls To Hartford

Riverdale, NY - The Hartford Hawks were able to take home two wins from Manhattan in the Jaspers' home opener Wednesday afternoon in Gaelic Park. Christine Gebhardt (Middletown, NJ / Middletown North) led the Manhattan offense in the losses, hitting .571 over the two games, with three doubles and a .571 on-base percentage. 

Manhattan falls to 3-5 on the young season, while Hartford improves to 6-4. 

Hartford 2, Manhattan 1
The opening game of the day proved to be a defensive battle, with both teams scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. In that inning, Gebhardt earned a ground-rule double to lead off, before advancing to third on a single from Lauren Rende (Ardsley, NY / Ardsley). Annie Moore (Northridge, CA / El Camino Real) then filed out to right field for the sacrifice fly to send Gebhardt home and put the Jaspers up 1-0. 

Kayla McDermott (Garnerville, NY / North Rockland) entered the game in relief for starting pitcher Nicole Williams (Ansonia, CT / St. Joseph's) in the top of the seventh. Hartford's Paige Fedak doubled to center field to lead off for the Hawks, then advanced to third on a ground out by Lily Sencer. Mara Sczecienski then homered to left field for two RBI and the 2-1 lead over the Jaspers. 

Looking to get it back in the bottom of the inning, Kaitlyn Flood (Southbury, CT / Pomperaug) singled up the middle to start the offense for Manhattan. Jessie Rising (Little Egg Harbor, NJ / Pinelands) then used a sac bunt to advance Kaitlyn Holly (Hopkinton, MA / Hopkinton), pinch running for Flood, to second. Pinch hitting for the Jaspers, Morgan Sgarlata (Oneida, NY / Herkimer CC) then flied out to left field for Manhattan's second out, before Gabriella Mazzotta (Somers, NY / Somers) grounded out to end the game. 

McDermott (1-1) took the loss in the circle. Williams went six innings, striking out five of 25 batters faced and letting up three hits. 

Hartford 10, Manhattan 5
Manhattan took an early lead in game two, going up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Moore grounded out to second base to score Mazzotta from third. The Hawks answered with a four-run third inning, taking a 4-1 lead, but were quickly quieted as the Jaspers put together a four-run tear of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Manhattan got back-to-back doubles from Mazzotta and Gebardt, putting runners on second and third to lead off the inning. Both then advanced on a passed ball, making it 4-2 Hartford when Mazzotta crossed home plate. Next, flood singled up the middle to score Gebhardt and get the Jaspers within one of the Hawks. Four batters and two outs later, Sgarlata drove in two runs with a single up the middle to put the Jaspers ahead 5-4.

Kali Puppolo (Adams, MA / Herkimer CC) entered the game for starting pitcher Rising in the fourth, holding the one-run Manhattan advantage until the top of the seventh inning. Sczecienski opened the stanza by reaching first on a error, then advanced to second base when teammate Danielle Rocheleau was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Puppolo walked Kelsey Galevich to load the bases, followed by a two-RBI single from Fedak that gave Hartford back the lead at 6-5. Four more runs would come in for the Hawks before McDermott entered in relief to get the third out of the inning. 

Adriana Gambino (Stamford, CT / Westhill) would single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to get something moving for the Jaspers. She was followed by Sgarlata, who singled to short to put two runners on. The pair then advanced on a passed ball to give Manhattan two runners in scoring position, but Rising ended the inning with a ground out to short. 

Puppolo (0-2) earned the loss for Manhattan, giving up six runs on five hits in 3.2 innings. Rising went three innings in the circle, allowing four runs on four hits and striking out four.

Up Next:
Manhattan will face both Morgan State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in a four-game series starting Saturday, March 7 in Baltimore.