The first game of the twin billing did not start out well for the Red Hawks. A pair of walks issued to Valiant third baseman Janine Fortunato and second baseman Nicole Elliott led to Manhattanville taking control of the game early when right fielder Sarah Gamble sailed a seeing-eye single to right center.

The Valiants could not hold the lead for long, however. The Red Hawk offense, undeterred by the team’s recent woes, came roaring back in the third inning. Shortstop Stephanie Vanek led the RPI charge by doubling deep to left center. Vanek advanced to third base on a passed ball and scored on an error by Valiant catcher Emily Duer, who was attempting to throw out Red Hawk catcher Leanna Smith.

The Red Hawks remained in the tight 1-1 stalemate with the Valiants for four innings after first getting on the board, as they failed to capitalize on six more hits by designated hitter Amy Huling, second baseman Marissa Crifasi, Vanek, and pitcher Shannon Smith.

As the two teams entered extra innings in the eighth frame, the game turned into softball’s version of sudden death overtime. Each team started their half of the inning with the batter who had made the final out of the seventh being placed automatically at second base.

In the Red Hawks’ half, Smith was placed at second base, and Amy Huling was set to lead off. Huling successfully sacrificed Smith to third base, and Smith scored the lead run unearned on an error by left fielder Shana Gaughran. Megan Porter reached first base on the error and scored a tack-on run on a booming double by right fielder Sarah Jurta to right center. With the two runs, the Red Hawks now had the lead for the first time in the game.

In the Valiants’ eighth, Smith quickly induced a ground ball from Elliot and two fly-outs from first baseman Emily Smithson and Duer, and the Red Hawks won the game 3-1. Smith had pitched the Red Hawks to their first win, and Candice D’Audrea took the loss for the Valiants.

The second game of the doubleheader started out quietly like the four-inning deadlock between the Red Hawks and the Valiants in the first game. The Red Hawks squandered two smooth hits in the first two innings of the game by Vanek and Smith.

Then Red Hawks first baseman Kelly Romano reached on an error by Duer, and the floodgates were opened for RPI. The whole Red Hawk offense hit for the cycle—quite literally. The Red Hawks pounded out three doubles, three singles, a triple, and a homerun to score 11 runs. In just one inning of play, the RPI offense scored more runs than they had scored in their previous three games combined.

The Red Hawks added one more run in the fourth frame with a double by Porter, and won the game 12-0. RPI pitcher Amy Huling recorded her first win of the season with the shutout, and Carol Donnelly took the loss for the Valiants.