NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University softball team (11-24, 2-10) snapped a nine-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference losing streak Saturday when it split a doubleheader with Manhattan College (20-18, 7-3) at Niagara Field. The Purple Eagles lost the first game, 13-6, but came back with an 11-6 win in the night cap.
MAAC Freshman of the Year candidate Tory Healy (Las Vegas, Nev.) had a day at the plate. She finished the series hitting .571 with four hits, four runs, three home runs, six RBI and 13 total bases. The second baseman broke the single-season home run record (7), while breaking the single-game records for at bats (7), RBI, and total bases. She also tied the school mark for home runs in a single game.
Senior Kristina Kilian (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) registered her second home run of the season, a grand slam in the second game. Classmate Lauren Dombrowski (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) was 3 for 5 on the day.
Game 1 - Manhattan 13, Niagara 6
Tory Healy accounted for four of Niagara’s six runs when the rookie hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and then a three-run dinger to straight-away center field in the fifth.
Manhattan took an 8-0 lead in the top of the third when it collected seven hits. Kerry Cook registered two singles and a RBI in the inning.
A solo home run by Keira Fox gave Manhattan a 9-0 led in the fourth, but Niagara came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning on Healy’s first home run.
The Lady Jaspers scored four runs in the top of the fifth. Deirdre Langan plated a pair when she hit a double to right-center field.
Niagara came back with four runs of their own when sophomore Nicole Sum (Burnaby, B.C.) singled down the left field line to score Dombrowski. Healy then recorded her second home run of the game with a smash to center field.
Game 2 - Niagara 11, Manhattan 6
Manhattan got the scoreboard first when it scored two runs in the first inning, but Niagara tied the game when Healy hit her third home run of the series with a two-run bomb to left field.
Niagara took a 7-2 lead in the third. Freshman Melissa Markle (Orchard Park, N.Y./West Seneca West) singled in junior Shannon Mongalise (Bethel Park, Pa.) and then Kristina Kilian hit her grand-slam home run to center field.
The Purple Eagles took a 9-2 run in the fourth when Mongalise belted a two-run home run to left field.
Manhattan cut Niagara’s lead to five when it tallied two runs in the fifth, but the Purple Eagles came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning when senior Jamie Horn (Youngstown, N.Y./Lewiston-Porter) and Markle scored Lady Jaspers throwing errors.
The Lady Jaspers finished the scoring when they plated two runs in the sixth. Stefanie Gozdziewski doubled to center field and Liz Strein singled her home.
