Purchase, N.Y. – Ithaca swept Manhattanville College today, defeating the Valiants in the non-conference doubleheader to move to 28-8 on the year.
 
Ithaca took the first game 5-4 behind a home run by sophomore Hannah Anderson. The Valiants fought back in the late innings, loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Ithaca was able to hold on.
 
The second game was knotted at zero until the top of the seventh inning, when pinch hitter Abby Shields came up big, scoring the game's lone run to secure the victory for Ithaca.
 
Sophomores Hannah Anderson and Vanessa Brown led the way for the Bomber offense, finishing the day with three hits apiece. Anderson also pitched in two RBI on the day to lead the squad.
 
Game 1
Ithaca held off a late rally by the Valiants in the bottom of the seventh inning in order to win its 27th game of the season.
 
With two outs in the top of the first inning, sophomore Vanessa Brown singled through the left side to kick off a Bomber rally. Classmate Alex Wright followed up with a single of her own, advancing Brown to third. Wright stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error while Brown stole home, giving Ithaca a 1-0 lead.
 
During the next at bat, freshman Shannon Grage walked. She stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher, allowing Wright to score from third. Ithaca recorded its final two runs of the frame with Anderson's blast over the left field fence, giving the Bombers a 4-0 lead.
 
The Bombers issued a one-out walk in the bottom of the first inning, but sophomore pitcher Haley Congdon forced a strikeout and groundout to end the frame.   
 
Manhattanville retired the Bombers in order in the top of the second and threatened to score in the bottom of the second with two runners left on. A one-out walk was issued to Adrena Daw and she advanced to second on Brittany Deieso's infield single. Ithaca forced a fielder's choice and strikeout to end the frame with no damage.
 
Senior Jessie Fleck singled up the middle to start the top of the third frame, but left early to give Manhattanville its first out of the frame. The Valiants then forced a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning.
 
Manhattanville got on the board in the bottom of the third inning thanks in part to Sophia Chapelone's double to left field. The Bombers forced two fly outs, but Alicia Marino singled down the left field line to score Chapelone from second.
 
The Bombers answered that run with one of their own after Anderson recorded a single up the middle in the top of the fourth frame. Sophomore Annie Cooney grounded out of the next play, but it allowed Anderson to move into scoring position. Freshman Frankie-Ann McCauley singled to center field, scoring Anderson to put Ithaca up 5-1.
 
The bottom of the fourth and the top of the fifth inning were scoreless for both squads, with the only baserunner coming in junior Allie Colleran who reached on a fielding error.
 
Ithaca's insurance run in the top of the fourth paid off after Marino hit a three-run homerun to bring Manhattanville to within one. Sam Jedrey kicked off the inning with a walk, then Desiree Buboi singled to give the Valiants two runners on. Marino then stepped up, blasting the shot to deep center field. The Bombers were able to escape any more damage after they forced a lineout.
 
The Bombers got two runners into scoring position in the top of the sixth inning thanks to back-to-back singles by Grage and Anderson, but Manhattanville shut down the Ithaca bats to leave them stranded.
 
Ithaca retired the Valiants in order in the bottom of the sixth inning on two pop outs and a groundout. The Bombers then tried to add another run in the top of the seventh after Colleran led off the inning with a single, but could not get anything across.
 
Manhattanville's strongest threat of the game came in the bottom of the seventh inning when they loaded the bases with two outs. The Bombers retired the first two batters easily on a fly out and a groundout, but then three free passes in a hit by pitch and two walks loaded them up. Congdon was able to force a pop out to end the game and earn her 13th win of the season.
 
Ithaca's offense was led by Anderson, who recorded three hits and two RBI. Brown followed up with two hits of her own and one run scored. Congdon went the distance for the Bombers, allowing five hits and four runs, while striking out five.  
 
Game 2
 
Brown recorded a two-out single up the middle in the top of the first inning, but Manhattanville forced Wright into a fielder's choice to end the frame. Ithaca returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning by forcing three consecutive groundouts.
 
The Bombers once again got a runner on base in the top of the second inning with a Grage walk, but Manhattanville recorded a strikeout and groundout to end the frame.
 
Marino kicked off the bottom of the second inning with a hard hit double to right field and was followed by a one-out hit by pitch issued to Aarin Hartenstein. With runners on first and second Grage came back firing from the circle, retiring the next two batters with a strikeout and a groundout to leave both runners stranded.
 
Manhattanville retired the Bombers in order in the top of the third inning, forcing a fly out, groundout and line out.
 
Deieso singled to third base and stole second to start the bottom of the third frame. She moved 60 more feet on a groundout, the closest the Valiants have gotten to score in the game, but the defense forced a 5-3-2 double play on the next at bat to end the threat and keep the score knotted at zero.
 
Three groundouts quickly retired the heart of the Ithaca order in the top of the fourth inning.
 
After allowing Marino to reach base on an error in the bottom of the fourth inning, Grage and the Bomber defense forced a groundout and a strikeout to leave Marino stranded on second base.
 
The fifth inning saw no offense from either team, with both teams being retired in order. The Bombers' defense sat the Valiants down with two groundouts and a line out.
 
With two outs in the top of the sixth inning, Fleck found herself on base after a single up the middle. She stole second to give Brown a runner in scoring position, but the Valiants forced Brown to groundout to end the threat.
 
Manhattanville had its best opportunity in the game to score after having runners on first and second with two outs. Buboi reached base on a fielding error and advanced to second after Marino's single, but Grage got the final batter swinging to end the frame and the threat.
 
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Grage doubled to right field to start a Bomber rally. Sophomore Nikkey Skuraton came in to run for Grage and Shields came in to pinch hit and it paid off, with Shields singling up the middle to break the 0-0 tie, giving Ithaca the 1-0 lead, late.
 
Freshman Emily Holden kept the inning going with a single to right field, giving Ithaca runners on the corners. The freshman stole second, giving pinch hitter Rebecca DiSerio two runners in scoring position. Manhattanville was able to escape the jam though, forcing a pop out to end the frame.
 
With their backs against the wall, Evonne Torres singled with one down in the hopes to get something started for the Valiants. Tori Dixon followed up with a two-out single of her own, but Ithaca forced a groundout to hold onto the win.
 
Five Bombers recorded hits to lead the way on the offensive front, but Shields' RBI was the deciding factor in the victory. Grage went all seven innings in the circle
 
The Bombers are back in action for their final regular season doubleheader on Wednesday at SUNY Cortland. Games are slated for 3 and 5 p.m. Live stats will be available at athletics.ithaca.edu.