Box Score (Game #1) 
Box Score (Game #2) 

WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (11-1) opened its home schedule March 25 with a doubleheader sweep of Manhattanville (6-10) at Pioneer Softball Field. The Pioneers won the first game 3-1, and overcame a 2-0 sixth-inning deficit to win the night cap 4-3 in eight innings.

GAME ONE
Tied at 1-1 midway through the fourth, William Paterson plated a pair of runs during the bottom of the fifth to win the opener against the Valiants, 3-1.

Senior Meghan Reilly (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) tripled to left-center to lead off the first, junior Christina Zippler (Blackwood, N.J./Washington Twp.) walked and stole second, and junior Linda Hahn (Sewell, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) grounded out to the pitcher, driving in Reilly and staking the Pioneers to the early 1-0 edge.

Manhattanville tied the score with a run in the fourth, when with the bases loaded and one out, Ashley Dell singled through the right side of the infield and delivered Nicole Oliva from third base.

William Paterson earned the victory thanks to a two-run single from Zippler during the fifth inning, part of a 2-for-2 effort by the center fielder.

Reilly was 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs. Sophomore Jenna Vitale (Kenilworth, N.J./David Brearley) picked up the victory inside the circle (4-0), scattering six hits in 7.0 innings and striking out three hitters while issuing one walk.

Oliva led the Valiants with her 2-for-3 effort and a run scored, while Catie Venturella also was 2-for-3. Samantha Howe suffered the loss (3-5), giving up seven hits and three earned runs in 6.0 innings.

GAME TWO
Despite carrying a combined no-hitter into extra innings, William Paterson was forced to rally from a 2-0 deficit and eventually came away with a 4-3, eight-inning win during the day's second game.

Manhattanville got on the board with two runs in the top of the second, but the scores were a result of four walks and a hit batsman, as the Valiants drew three straight two-out free passes to take the early lead. Freshman Michele Graham (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) came in and relieved starter Kerrie Mascarelli (Montvale, N.J./Pascack Hills), registering the final out of the frame with a strikeout.

Graham was then brilliant inside the circle, at one point recording five straight perfect innings and striking out six of the 16 batters she faced.

Senior Ana Abourashed (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) gave her teammates hope when she bombed a home run over the left-field fence, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth. Reilly later led of the bottom of the seventh with a single, moved to second on a Zippler sacrifice and scored after a Lindsey Nadolny (Belford, N.J./Middletown North) one-out single up the middle, sending the game to extra innings at 2-2.

With the international tiebreaker in place, Venturella was placed on second base to begin the eighth, and Lindsay Zekus put down a bunt to advance Venturella but no one was covering the bag at first, giving Manhattanville runners at the corners and zero outs. Kathryn Moore then singled to left field and plated Venturella to break the 2-2 tie, followed by an Oliva foul out and a Nicole Bifulco single to load the bases. Howe stepped to the plate and hit a foul ball that was tailing away towards the fence just behind first base, a ball Nadolny was able to squeeze in her glove and hold on to for the second out. Zekus attempted to tag and score, but after a WP protest and an umpires' conference, Zekus was ruled to have left third base too early, becoming the third out for the Valiants.

Abourashed started the bottom of the eighth on second base and was lifted for pinch runner Danielle Ballard (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook). The first hitter of the inning was sophomore catcher Nicole Jimmerson (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech), who struck out swinging but was safe at first after Zekus overthrew the dropped third strike, putting runners at the corners for the Pioneers. Freshman Raquel Roder's (Hoboken, N.J./Hoboken) sacrifice bunt moved Jimmerson to second base, setting the stage for a Jillian Mulderig (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) single up the middle that drove in both Ballard and Jimmerson and handed William Paterson the 4-3 victory.

Reilly was 2-for-3 and Abourashed was 2-for-4 to pace the Pioneers. Graham picked up the victory in relief (3-1), striking out six and allowing two hits and one unearned run in 6.1 innings.

Moore and Bifulco accounted for the Valiants' two hits. Maura Bruen took the loss (2-4) after surrendering 10 hits and four runs (two earned) in 7.1 innings.

The Pioneers will begin league play Saturday, March 28, with a doubleheader at New Jersey City at 1:00 p.m.