Mankins Drives in 6 as Bentley Sweeps Stonehill, 7-6 and 10-2
]EASTON, Mass. – Bentley University sophomore third baseman Kaylee Mankins (North Attleboro/Bishop Feehan HS) might want to petition the conference office to add more Bentley-Stonehill games to the schedule after amassing 12 in four games against the Skyhawks, including six Wednesday.
Her infield single broke a ninth-inning deadlock and gave Bentley a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over Stonehill in the opening game of a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader at Father Gartland Field.
In the nightcap, the Falcons completed the four-game season series sweep of the Skyhawks with a 10-2 victory. That game was halted after five innings by the eight-run rule.
Freshman second baseman Sabrina Grizzaffi (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield HS) led off the ninth with a single and moved to second on a walk. Senior designated player Lindsey Allen (Worcester/ Worcester Tech HS) drew a walk and graduate left fielder Stacey Korotsky (Raynham/Bridgewater-Raynham HS) filled the bases with a single to short.
Following a fielder's choice, Mankins came to the plate with nine RBI in three games against the Skyhawks (2-8, 1-5 NE10) this season. Once again, she came through, her ground ball to first scoring Allen with the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the ninth, freshman righty Payton Doiron (Beacon Falls, Conn./St. Joseph HS) retired the side in order to lock up the win in a game that Bentley once trailed 6-1.
The Falcons' only other run was scored in the first with Mankins and Allen again teaming up. Allen led off with a single through the right side and scored on Mankins' single to right.
In addition to a 3-for-4 performance by Mankins, Bentley's 11 hits included three hits from Korotsky and two from senior shortstop Noelani Rivera (Clifton, N.J./Hawthorne Christian Academy).
Doiron earned the win with three innings of one-hit scoreless relief.
Bentley totaled 15 hits in game two with everyone in the lineup having at least one. Grizzaffi got the scoring going in the second with a two-run double to left center and finished with two hits and four RBI. Senior right fielder Lea Thompson (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull HS) had two, including a three-run homer, and Korotsky had three base hits for the second straight game.
Mankins added to her RBI total with two while finishing 2-for-3.
After Grizzaffi made it a 2-0 game in the first, Thompson's three-run blast made it 5-0 in the third. The Falcons broke the game open in the fifth on a two-run double by Mankins, a two-run single by Grizzaffi and a single down the left field line by Allen.
Junior Elise Pereira (Plainville/King Philip Reg. HS) went the distance in the center circle for the win, scattering two hits and striking out seven.
Bentley, 4-6 overall and NE10, will travel to Colchester, Vt. this weekend for a four-game series with St. Michael' College Saturday and Sunday.