RIVERDALE, New York – The Marist softball team swept a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader at Manhattan on Saturday to maintain its hopes of qualifying for next week's conference championships. The Red Foxes earned a 7-6 win in eight innings in game one, and prevailed by a score of 8-5 in game two.

Here is a closer look at each game:

Game One – Marist 7, Manhattan 6 (8 inn.)

In the first inning, junior shortstop Kyrsten Van Natta drew a one-out walk, and sophomore catcher Rebecca Freeman followed with a two-run homer. A two-run double by designated player Jenn Vazquez tied the game in the bottom of the inning, but a solo homer by senior second baseman Janine Lalli once again gave Marist the lead in the second.

Marist held its 3-2 advantage until a two-run Manhattan fourth. The Jaspers remained ahead by a run until there were two outs in the top of the seventh, when an error on a dropped fly ball with two outs enabled freshman pinch runner Kourtney Paul to come home from first with the game's tying run. In the eighth, Marist took a three-run lead thanks to a ground-rule RBI double by junior first baseman Maureen Duddy and a two-run triple by Van Natta. The Jaspers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but sophomore Jayne Oberdorf recorded the final two outs for her first career save. Oberdorf stranded the tying run at second.

Freeman finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Lalli was 2-for-3. The Red Foxes outhit the Jaspers, 7-6.

Senior Melanie White (14-11) went the first 7.1 innings to earn the win. White struck out seven. Erin Hamm (1-2), who went 1.1 innings in relief of starter Amy Bright, took the loss.

Game Two – Marist 8, Manhattan 5

In the top of the third, sophomore third baseman Jordynn Barrera doubled, and Van Natta homered two batters later to give the Red Foxes a 2-0 lead. The Jaspers answered in the fifth with three runs on a two-run homer by catcher Elena Bowman, and an RBI single by shortstop Stephanie Reinhardt.

Marist took the lead back with a three-run sixth. The Red Foxes had just one hit in the inning, but they used three sacrifice bunts, a sacrifice fly, two Manhattan errors and a run scoring on an illegal pitch to take the lead for good. In the seventh, freshman left fielder Gabrielle Kelliher launched a two-out, three-run homer, which gave the Red Foxes an 8-3 lead. Manhattan designated player Sydney Weedon had a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning to account for the game's final runs.

Van Natta, freshman catcher Samantha Reilly and sophomore right fielder Janna Korak had two hits apiece for the Red Foxes.

White (15-11) struck out four in the final three innings to pick up the win in relief of Oberdorf, who went the first four. Briana Matazinsky (9-5) pitched a complete game for Manhattan.

Marist is now 26-26 overall and 9-9 in the MAAC. Manhattan is 25-16 overall and 13-5 in the MAAC.

Despite its doubleheader sweep, Marist remains one game back of Monmouth for sixth place in the MAAC by virtue of the Hawks' sweep of Canisius on Saturday. The top six teams qualify for next week's MAAC championships.

Sunday will be the final day of the MAAC regular season. Marist will have a doubleheader at Saint Peter's (1-17 MAAC) starting at noon. Monmouth (10-8 MAAC) will host Niagara (4-14 MAAC) starting at 1 p.m. If the Red Foxes and Hawks are tied after Sunday, the only way Marist can qualify for the MAAC championships is if Manhattan (13-5 MAAC) finishes with a better conference record than Canisius (13-5) MAAC. Manhattan has a Sunday doubleheader at Fairfield (13-5 MAAC) starting at noon, while Canisius is at Rider (6-12 MAAC) for two beginning at noon.