Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MADISON, N.J. – The Manhattanville baseball team split its doubleheader with FDU-Florham on Sunday afternoon, dropping game one in extra innings, 5-4, while beating the Devils in game two by a 12-7 final.
 
Freshmen Chris Conklin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland), Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep), Joe Anselmi (North Rockland, N.Y./North Rockland), John Delahanty (Mahopac/N.Y.) and Vincenzo Pepe (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) all had a fine day for the Valiants, combining for 15 hits, 12 RBIs and seven runs. Conklin led the way with six hits, five RBIs and four runs in the two-game split of the Devils.
 
Manhattanville (13-11, 7-7 Freedom) head coach Jeff Caulfield is now the all-time wins leader in Manhattanville history with 203 career victories at the helm, surpassing former men's ice hockey coach and present Athletic Director Keith Levinthal. FDU-Florham (14-8, 10-4 Freedom) drops to third place in the Freedom Conference as the Valiants currently sit in fourth.
 
Junior Zack Eklund (West Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) received the start in game one for the Valiants, tossing 5 1/3 strong innings, allowing one run on three total hits. Eklund gave Manhattanville a strong chance of winning game one until numerous errors in the field plagued the Valiants in the end.
 
The Valiants scored all four of its runs before FDU-Florham could get on the scoreboard. Starting in the first inning, Lynch gave Manhattanville an early lead by knocking in sophomore Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) on a single to center field. The Manhattanville freshmen class produced every run for the Valiants in game one.
 
Eklund remained strong on the mound, giving up only one hit in his first five innings of work. The Valiants struck next in the third inning as Anselmi smacked a double to center field, scoring Conklin and making it 2-0. Manhattanville manufactured two more runs in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly from Anselmi as well as a Delahanty RBI single, giving the Valiants a 4-0 lead.
 
The Devils finally got on Eklund in the sixth as Frankie Tassielli smoked a homerun to left field. With a 4-1 Valiants lead headed into the final Devils at-bat, things fell apart for Manhattanville. Junior Joe Palmeri (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport/South Manor) was hoping to receive the save, but instead the Valiants began getting sloppy in the field. The Devils connected on two consecutive singles off Palmeri before those runs would come around to score on errors from Nunez at shortstop and classmate Kurt Hommen (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) at second.
 
FDU-Florham eventually tied the ballgame up in the seventh before proceeding to connect on a walk off single in the eighth off sophomore Sam Garito (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Prep) (0-2), taking game one with a 5-4 win on the heroics of John Bowe.
 
Junior Zack Zareva (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) (3-0) started game two for the Valiants, pitching 4 1/3 innings, striking out five batters while allowing three runs on six hits. Unlike game one, Manhattanville took a commanding lead early in game two and would never look back.
 
Conklin gave Manhattanville reason to get over its heartbreaking game one loss by stroking a homerun to left field in the first inning, putting the Valiants up 1-0. The Valiants went right back to work in the second as junior Kevin Brady (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) connected on a double to right center, scoring Pepe and classmate Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac).
 
With Manhattanville riding a 3-0 lead after three innings of play, the Valiants put together a big fourth inning, scoring four runs that included a solo homerun from Euvino, a two-run triple from Conklin and an RBI single from Lynch. The Devils chipped away two runs in the bottom half of the fourth, making it 7-2 in favor of the Valiants.
 
Despite the Devils obtaining two runs in the fourth, the Valiants wreaked more havoc in the fifth inning, scoring four more runs coming off singles from freshmen Pepe, Conklin and Lynch. FDU-Florham continued trying to inch closer in the fifth, tallying three more runs, cutting its deficit to six, 11-5. Manhattanville would eventually score again in the sixth on a single up the middle from Hommen before taking game two by a final score of 12-7.
 
The Valiants will next play on Tuesday at Manhattanville field against non-conference foe Baruch starting at 4:00 p.m.  Live stats are available via GoValiants.com.