PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore Pat Badia (Somers, N.Y./Somers) threw another gem on the mound, tossing 6.1 scoreless innings to lead the Valiants past Wilkes University 7-1 Friday afternoon to begin a busy weekend of baseball for Manhattanville.
 
Badia remained unbeaten on the mound this season, improving to 4-0 on the year with the win.  The southpaw allowed just three hits and walked only one on his way to the victory.  Sophomore Dennis Berardi (Brewster, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) closed out the game by throwing 2.2 innings out of the pen, allowing just one run in the final inning in another strong performance in relief. 
 
At the plate, junior Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) launched his fifth homerun of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning.  Seniors Jake McGrath (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) and Kurt Hommen (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) and junior Anthony Iannuzzi (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) each drove in a run for the Valiants (16-9 overall, 7-4 MAC Freedom), and junior John Delahanty (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) recorded two hits in the win.
 
Lynch put Manhattanville on top with his dinger in the first, and the Valiants tacked on two more in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from McGrath and an RBI groundout by Hommen.  The 4-0 lead continued into the seventh inning.  With Wilkes (16-13 overall, 5-8 MAC Freedom) threatening with a man in scoring position, Iannuzzi gunned down junior James Brown trying to advance on a wild pitch to help the Valiants get out of the inning without any damage.
 
Manhattanville added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh, scoring sophomore Danny Gallagher (Nanuet, N.Y./Paramus Catholic) and junior Chris Conklin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.  After Berardi sat the Colonels down in order in the top of the 8th, the Valiants added one more run in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI groundout from Iannuzzi. 
 
Despite allowing a single run in the ninth, Berardi worked out of a bases loaded jam with a two-out strikeout to end the game. 
 
The Valiants improved to 7-4 in MAC Freedom play this season with the win.  With a DeSales win and a Misericordia loss, Manhattanville sits one game out of the top spot in the conference standings.  They will look to keep pace in the race for first with two games against Wilkes tomorrow before hosting first place Misericordia for two games on Sunday.