PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College baseball team suffered two losses Wednesday afternoon at home to FDU-Florham in MAC Freedom action, falling to 5-6 in conference play this season.
The Valiants got big performances offensively Wednesday from seniors
Chris Conklin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) and
John Delahanty (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) who each went 4-for-7 over the two games, combining for five runs scored and two runs batted in. Fellow senior
Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) racked up two hits at the dish, including a two-run homerun in game two, moving into a tie for second most all-time at Manhattanville with Rob Panno, '85.
Junior
Pat Badia (Somers, N.Y./Somers) took a perfect game into the fifth inning in game one, tossing 6.2 innings while allowing just three hits and three runs in the loss. Junior
William Mohr (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) was also effective in relief both games, tossing 1.2 perfect innings of relief on the day.
Game One
After a scoreless first inning, Manhattanville struck first in the bottom of the second when Conklin laced a single to right center to plate Delahanty and put Manhattanville up 1-0. Badia retired the first 12 batters he faced Wednesday, allowing the first base runner in the top of the fifth on a leadoff double to Dylan DiPolvere. After a sacrifice bunt, DiPolvere scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the score 1-1.
The Valiants retook the lead in their ensuing at bat, scoring a single run on a one-out single from junior Dany Gallagher, but again was unable to hold the lead for long. The Devils scored twice in the sixth, using an RBI single and a Valiant fielding error to take a 3-2 lead. Manhattanville was able to get a runner in scoring position in their final two at bats, but could not push across the tying run, falling 3-2 in the series opener.
Game Two
The Devils jumped on Manhattanville in the second inning, plating four runs in the top half of the frame to take an early 4-0 lead. The Valiants responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, using a sacrifice fly from senior
Joe Booker (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) and a single from fellow senior
Anthony Iannuzzi (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) to get within two runs.
Using the momentum, the Valiants pushed four runs across in the third to take their first lead of game two. Lynch got the scoring started with a two-run homerun to left to tie the game 4-4 before the Valiants scored on a wild pitch and a bases loaded walk to take a 6-4 lead into the fourth inning.
After holding the Devils scoreless in the fifth, FDU-Florham exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning to take a five-run lead, 11-6. Conklin singled home Delahanty in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally was cut short on a game-ending double play, as the Devils took game two 11-7.
Manhattanville will look to bounce back from the two losses on Friday when they travel to New Jersey for the series finale against the Devils, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 pm.
