PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Valiant bats stayed hot as the Manhattanville College baseball team rolled to their eighth consecutive victory on a chilly afternoon Wednesday, taking down Mount Saint Mary 14-7.
As a team, the Valiants (14-6 overall) racked up 14 hits on the day, marking the eighth consecutive game with a double-digit hit total. Freshman Matt Coleman led the charge with two hits, two runs batted in, and a run scored. Senior
Kurt Hommen (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) also drove in two runs on two hits, and juniors
Joe Anselmi (North Rockland, N.Y./North Rockland) and
Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) each tallied two RBI's on the day.
On the mound, sophomore
Thomas Contrelli (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) pitched five perfect innings to close out the game and earn his first win of the season.
After falling behind 3-0 in the Knights (5-15 overall) first at bat, the Valiants responded with five runs of their own to take the lead in the bottom half of the frame. Coleman capped off the big inning by singling home junior
Joe Booker (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) to give Manhattanville the two run lead.
The offense continued in the roll in their second at bat, scoring plating another five runs on four hits. Anselmi started the scoring with a two run single to center field, driving in senior
Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) and freshman
Bryan Borruso (Blaivelt, N.Y./Tappen Zee). Coleman drove home his second run of the game with a single to right field to bring home Anselmi. Hommen followed up in the following at bat with an RBI single of his own, and the Valiants scored on a wild pitch to take a 10-3 lead into the third inning.
In the third inning, the Valiants again expanded the lead. Lynch singled home Nunez to make the score 11-6, and after an Anselmi double, freshman
Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) brought in Lynch with a sacrifice fly to right field. An RBI single from Hommen followed up by a sacrifice fly from Conklin gave the Valiants a 14-6 lead through three innings.
The Valiant and Knight pitchers settled in after the third, allowing just one run over the final six innings of the game. Taking over the duties on the mound in the top of the fifth, Contrelli retired all 15 batters that he faced, striking out two to earn the vicory.
Manhattanville begins a busy weekend of MAC Freedom baseball on Friday when they travel to DeSales University for the first part of the season series. The Valiants will then host the Bulldogs in a doubleheader on Saturday and wrapup the weekend by taking on Misericordia in a doubleheader matchup at home on Sunday.
