Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The University of Hartford softball team dropped a pair of games at Manhattan (2-6) on Tuesday, falling 11-6 and 6-1. The Hawks (2-6) return to the diamond this weekend for the Hornets Invite at Delaware State where they will face the host-team Hornets as well as Lehigh.

Genevieve Morneau-Vaillancourt went perfect in her four at-bats in the first game, scoring a pair of runs while driving in one. Rookies Marisa Ferguson and Meghan Wynn each collected two hits in the afternoon's second contest, but it wasn't enough to hold off the hot-hitting Jaspers in the nightcap.

The opening game between the Hawks and Jaspers started out as a slugfest, as the two teams traded blows in the first four innings. Hartford jumped out to take a 1-0 advantage in the opening inning on a Mooney sacrifice fly, but Manhattan combatted that run in the its first at-bats, using an Andi Stallard single to drive in a pair of runs.

The battle continued, as each teams plated single runs in both the second and third innings to keep Manhattan in front by a single score at 4-3 through three innings. Senior Amber Andrews doubled in the second inning with one out to bring home Genevieive Morneau-Vaillaincourt to knot up the score at 2-2. Trailing, 3-2, in the top of the third, Jackie Kelly retied the contest at 3-all in the top of the third, scoring Sawyer Fried who led off the inning with a walk using a sacrifice fly.

But the Jaspers struck again, this time using three-straight hits to take a 4-3 advantage. Breaking open the afternoon's second tie was Anna Crowley, who smacked a ground-rule double to plate both Stephanie and Jenn Vazquez.

Andrews went on to provide the Hawks with their first lead of the game, scoring on her second stolen base of the fourth inning. One play after Morneau-Vaillancourt led off the frame with a single, the shortstop ripped a base hit to left field. With Jenice Aloyo at the plate, Andrews swiped second base. She then reached third on a muffed throw by the Manhattan first baseman, a play that brought in the game-tying run in Morneau-Vaillancourt. With Fried at the plate, Hartford schemed a double steal, allowing Andrews to provide her team with a 5-4 lead before the end of the inning.

But that lead was again short-lived, as Manhattan took control of the game in the home half of the fourth. With runners on first and second and two outs recorded, the Jaspers erased their deficit and pushed ahead by a pair of runs at 7-5 following a bomb off the bat of Vazquez that cleared the left center field wall. In the next inning, Manhattan pushed its advantage to five runs (10-5) using a two-out single from Stallard and a bases-clearing triple from Reinhardt.

Adding one more run in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 11-5 lead for the home team, the Hawks attempted to muster up a comeback in their final at-bats. Loading up the bases on a fielding error and back-to-back walks with no outs, Morneau-Vaillancourt drove in her first run of the contest on a single that scored Dani Regina who pinch ran for Kelly at the start of the inning. The comeback bid would be halted, though, as Manhattan retired Hartford's final three batters in order to end the game.

Ana Alberti earned the start in the circle for the Hawks, allowing four runs in 2.2 innings. In relief, Kaitlyn Meade went the final 3.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs on three hits while walking six batters. Kate Bowen earned the win, recording two strikeouts and allowing five runs – three earned – in four innings, while Amy Bright, who tossed 3.0 innings in relief, got the save.

Manhattan collected 11 hits in the second game and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a one-out Paxson homerun. In the following frame, the Jaspers added two more runs to the scoreboard to push their advantage to 4-0.

That score held until the fifth inning as Hartford cut into its deficit to close the gap to three runs. Ferguson got the offense going, notching a base hit down the right field line to lead off the frame. After advancing to second on a passed ball with two outs, she raced across home following an infield error to make it a 4-1 game.

The Hawks wouldn't come any closer, though, as Manhattan cushioned its lead with two more in the bottom of the sixth, using three hits to push the insurance runs across the plate. Freshman Lexi Wilkerson earned the start for the Hawks, working all six innings. She allowed six earned runs and struck out two.