Purchase, NY - The Hunter softball team took on the Valiants of Manhattanville College earlier this afternoon in a double header. The Hawks were edged out by a slim 2-1 margin in the first game and were blanked 8-0 in the second, moving them to 7-9 overall.

Game 1 (Hunter-1 | Manhattanville-2)
Paige Witalec recorded the only two hits the Hawks were able to get off of the host's Shinstine. In addition to her two singles, she walked once. Leah Dillon and Kayla Pilotti each reached base after drawing walks. Sophia Perez scored their only run. Tea Panagakos suffered the loss in the circle despite a solid outing. She tossed four innings and gave up two runs on four hits and struck out one.  Dillon closed the final two innings and allowed just one hit while fanning one.

Hunter had an opportunity in the fourth when Witalec walked and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. With a runner in scoring position and just one out, both Samantha Marsala and Olivia Palumbo were unable to get their bats going, both striking out to end the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, the Valiants added two runs to the score board to take the lead.

In the top of the sixth, after Perez reached on a fielders choice, Witalec moved her to second on a single and then scored thanks to an error by Manhattanville's catcher. The Hawk were still chasing one with last at bats in the top of the seventh. However, they were unable to level the playing field as they suffered the 2-1 loss.

Game 2 (Hunter-0 | Manhattanville-8)
Once again, the Purple and Gold struggled to get the bats going and recorded just two hits in the game. Witalec and Pilotti were the lone Hawks to earn a hit while Marsala reached base on a walk. Sarah Schor suffered the loss after giving up three runs on three hits in the first three batters of the game before exiting the circle. Alyssa Curiale entered the game and allowed four runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings of action. Dillon came in and recorded the final out of the third inning but allowed one run on three hits in 1.1 innings of action.

In the bottom of the first, Manhattanville's Liggett drilled a three-run home run while her team added one more toward the end of the inning to make it 4-0. Aside from Witalec's double in the top of the inning, Hunter was unable to get any other runner past first base.

The hosts added another run in the second and then two in the third to make it a 7-0 affair. In the bottom of the fifth, Manhattanville's Nii homered to right center, triggering the run rule and ending the game, 8-0.

The Hawks return to action tomorrow, when they take on the Bulldogs of John Jay College in a CUNYAC double header at Randall's Island. The first pitch will be thrown at noon.