PURCHASE (NY) – Manhattanville College improved to 5-1 and remained atop the Freedom Conference standings as it swept a doubleheader from visiting Delaware Valley College on Saturday. The Valiants registered a 2-1 victory in the opener and then rallied for a 4-3, 11-inning triumph in the nightcap.

The first game saw Manhattanville (6-5 overall) score single runs in the first two innings, both off of Aggie miscues. Delaware Valley (7-9, 1-3 Freedom) cut the Valiant lead in half in the third as Jackie Wear doubled and scored on an RBI single by Kasey Martini. Martini moved to single on the throw, but was stranded.

The Aggies managed to put just one more runner in scoring position the rest of the way – Erin Fox on second in the sixth – but Samantha Howe took care of that threat and went on to earn her fifth win of the year. Howe allowed one run and seven hits while striking out six. Maggie Kichler took the loss despite allowing just unearned runs and five hits over six innings.

In the nightcap, Delaware Valley took a 1-0 lead in the second as pitcher Greer McComas helped her own cause with an RBI single that scored Keri Hardiman. Allison Tomasino then drove home runs in the third (sacrifice fly) and fifth innings (single) to increase the advantage to 3-0.

However, the Valiants tied the game by notching three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The first scored when Jessica Van Galen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded while the next two scoring on a costly Delaware Valley error.

It remained 3-3 until the bottom of the 11th. With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, the Valiants began the inning with a runner, Amanda Locke on second. She advanced to third on a sacrifice but. After an intentional walk to Lindsay Zekus, Locke was thrown out in a rundown on after a grounder by Lynsey Schill. However, Zekus and Schill moved up to second and third on the play. Van Galen was then intentionally walked to load the bases. That brought Ashley Dell to the plate and she singled to bring home Zekus with the winning run.

Howe picked up the win in relief of Michelle Ferlito as she allowed just two hits over the final five innings. Dell was 2-for-5 including the game-winning single.

McComas pitched nine-plus innings and allowed just one earned run and eight hits. Loran Mihaliak suffered the loss. Tomasino was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Martin was 2-for-4 and scored two runs.