RIVERDALE, NY – The Purple Eagles picked up their first two MAAC wins of the season with a two-game sweep of the Manhattan Jaspers Saturday afternoon in conference softball action from Gaelic Park.
Niagara improves to 6-25 on the season and 2-8 in league play, while Manhattan falls to 6-31 overall and 2-8 in the conference.
Game 1 Recap: Niagara 6, Manhattan 5
• After
Maddie Hickingbottom got out of a two-out jam in the bottom of the second, the Purple Eagle offense got their ace a pair of runs in the third, when
Hannah Mingle drove in
Kaylee Haines with a double and later scored on a Manhattan error.
• Manhattan would tie the game at two with a pair of runs on three hits in bottom of the third.
• In the top of the fourth with a runner on second, freshman
Sophia Marrero would launch an 0-1 pitch to left field for a 2-run home run, giving Niagara a 4-2 lead over the Jaspers.
• Niagara would go on to load the bases in the inning to bring up
Lindsay Mayo, who would walk to push across NU's third run of the inning.
• The Jaspers would get a run across in the bottom of the fourth to cut the NU lead down to two, 5-3.
• The Purple and White would add a run in the fifth when
Alicia Nash hit a sacrifice fly to center to score
Samantha Hare from third, giving NU a 6-3 advantage.
• The Jaspers would make it a one run game, 6-5, with a pair of runs in the home half of the fifth.
• Hickingbottom would strike out two in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Purple Eagles up by one, 6-5.
Niagara Notes
• Marrero's homer in the fourth was her second of the season and she becomes the first Niagara first-year player to hit multiple home runs in a season since
Maggie Kellner hit four during her freshman campaign in 2021.
• Mingle reached base safely three times with a double and two free passes.
• With her first strikeout of the afternoon, Hickingbottom reached 100 K's for the season. The senior right-hander finished with seven strikeouts.
• Hare has recorded a hit in nine of her last ten games. The junior outfielder scored two runs in the contest, bringing her season total to 14.
• The complete game for Hickingbottom was her fourth of the season.
Game 2 Recap: Niagara 3, Manhattan 1
• After four scoreless innings, Hare singled down the right field line driving in Mingle and
Hailey Cenname with two-outs. The junior would later come around to score when the next batter, Marrero, reached on a throwing error by the third baseman.
• Niagara starter
Cara Leone who had been dealing through four innings, allowed a two-out triple in the fifth to allow the Jaspers to score their first run of the game.
• After only getting one out in the bottom of the seventh and allowing the tying run to reach base, Leone was replaced by
Julia Thompson in the circle.
• Thompson would close the door on the Jaspers, getting out of a bases-loaded jam.
Niagara Notes
• NU's win-streak moves to four straight.
• Jaden Swaitek recorded her second multi-hit game of the season.
• Hare's two RBI in the fifth were her 14th and 15th of the year.
• Mingle came across to score for the fifth time this season, while Cenname crossed the plate for just the fourth time.
• For Thompson, the save was her first of the season.
Up Next
• Niagara will head to the Garden State to take on the Saint Peter's Peacocks Sunday afternoon in Jersey City, NJ. First pitch of the twin bill is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be streamed live on the Saint Peter's Peacocks athletics website.
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