PURCHASE, N.Y.- The Manhattanville baseball team split a two-game series with Eastern on Sunday afternoon, winning game one in extra innings by a final score of 5-4 before falling in game two to the Eagles by a 9-5 finish in Freedom Conference play.
 
Manhattanville (14-11, 8-5 Freedom) combined for 18 hits against Eastern (8-13, 5-6 Freedom) on Sunday. Senior Bobby Guerra (Bronx, N.Y./Arlington) led the way offensively, finishing the day with four hits, three runs scored and an RBI. Junior Jake McGrath (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) tallied three hits in game one while sophomore Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) collected three hits, three RBIs and a run scored through both games.
 
The Valiants won game one on some late dramatics in the eighth inning, loading the bases with no outs as senior Jeff Moskowitz (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) took a pitch off the back to bring home the winning run. Classmate Michael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) made the start on the mound in game one, tossing six strong innings, allowing three runs on seven hits before picking up the no decision.
 
Eastern opened up the scoring in game one in the third inning on RBI singles from Timmy Gorton and Eric Rossi, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. The Valiants answered in the fourth inning as senior Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) knocked in McGrath on an RBI double to right field, which was eventually followed by a sacrifice fly from Moskowitz to tie it up at two. Rossi gave the Eagles back their lead in the sixth on a solo home run off Lyon to right field. Manhattanville took advantage of some Eastern miscues in the sixth, scoring two runs to take a 4-3 lead. Euvino reached base on a throwing error at third base to score Lynch while also moving Guerra over to third base. Guerra made his way home on a passed ball to give the Valiants their first lead of the game.
 
Sophomore William Mohr (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) entered the seventh in hopes of picking up the save, but the Eagles tied the game up on an RBI single from Ryan McMenamin. After being held scoreless in the seventh, the Valiants came back strong in the eighth inning, loading the bases before Moskowitz brought home the winning run after getting hit by a pitch, delivering a game-one win as Mohr's blown save turned into a victory.
 
Senior Zack Zareva (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) made the start for Manhattanville in game two, pitching 2 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on three hits. The Valiants threw five different pitchers in game two, but could not tame the Eastern offense. Manhattanville had some issues defensively in the second contest, tallying four errors in the field that led to three unearned runs.
 
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning before the Valiants could find an answer at the plate. A three-run double from Lynch in the third inning pulled Manhattanville within two runs. Freshman Nick Campana (Yonkers, N.Y./Iona Prep) brought the Valiants within one run after a sacrifice fly to left field to score Euvino, making it 5-4. The Eagles got the best of freshman Danny Gallagher (Nanuet, N.Y./Paramus Catholic) in the sixth inning, scoring two more runs on RBI singles from Gorton and Joe Grato, taking a 7-4 lead. A solo home run from Guerra in the sixth brought the Valiants back within two, but the Eagles put two more runs on the board in the seventh after a two-run single from Mike McCracken. Despite loading the bases in the final inning, the Valiants could not produce any runs, falling in game two by a final score of 9-5.
 
The Valiants will play away tomorrow at Purchase at 6 p.m. under the lights in the annual Battle of Anderson Hill Road. Live stats are available via GoValiants.com.