RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan Jaspers softball team (5-18, 1-4 MAAC), dropped both of its contests against the Pioneers from Sacred Heart (9-16, 6-2 MAAC) to open the home portion of their MAAC schedule, by the final scores of 1-0 and 8-6 at Gaelic Park on Saturday afternoon.

GAME ONE: Manhattan 0, Sacred Heart 1 (F/8)


Saturday’s early session proved to be a defensive battle, with the teams combining for one total hit across the first two frames, a Pioneer single in the top of the first.
Manhattan’s first baserunner of the day was Kendall Penny off a six-pitch walk.
Despite Isabella Coulman getting to second off a steal later in the inning, three fielder’s choices all came with an out, thwarting the momentum.
Starter Karissa Spring kept the Pioneers at bay, holding the visitors to four hits through the first seven innings.
Lainey Brown broke through for the Green and White in the hit column, with a one-out single in the home half of the seventh ending the cold streak amongst the Jasper bats.
A double play off the bat of Sophia Hannappel ended the inning and forced extra innings.
Two singles and a fielder’s choice was all Sacred Heart needed to score the first run of the afternoon, proving to be enough after Manhattan went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half. 

GAME TWO: Manhattan 6, Sacred Heart 8


Contrary to game one, the nightcap proved to be offense galore, with the two sides combining for four runs in the opening inning.
After the first three scored by the Pioneers, Manhattan’s Natalye DeBus hit into a fielder’s choice, just enough to let Brianna Estevez score from third base.
With another insurance run for the road team in the second, the Green and White traded back a score off an RBI single from Coulman to score Hannappel.
The third inning saw the Jaspers roar back, with Brown’s reach on an error bringing Adriana Giomi to the plate to cut the deficit to one.
Jamie Falotico tied the contest up at four with an RBI single to score Caitlin Gaetani before the third came to a close.
Sacred Heart responded with a three-spot in the fourth, stretching their lead back out to three.
In the bottom of the fourth, DeBus launched her seventh home run of 2026 over the left field fence to make the game 7-6 in favor of the Pioneers after four.
Another insurance run from the visitors was enough to seal the deal for Sacred Heart, ending at 8-6.

STATS AND NOTES


Freshman utility player Natalye DeBus led the way with three RBI including her team-leading seventh home run of the season.
Freshman shortstop Samantha Kelly put together the most hits for the home side on Saturday, tallying three in game two.
Freshman infielder Lainey Brown was the sole Jasper to secure a hit in both games.
Junior pitcher Karissa Spring pitched all eight innings in the opener for the Green and White, allowing just one earned run off of six hits and striking out two. 

NEXT UP:

Manhattan will continue its 2026 campaign tomorrow, March 22, when they finish their first home MAAC series against the Pioneers from Sacred Heart. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM from Gaelic Park, broadcasted live on Jasper Sports Network.

Follow Manhattan Softball on X (@JaspersSoftball) and Instagram (@jasperssoftball). 

Read Full Article