PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College baseball team continued their local rivalry with Purchase College, splitting a doubleheader with the Panthers in the 2017 edition of the Battle for Anderson Hill Road.
Senior
Joe Booker (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) and junior
Nick Campana (Yonkers, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Elementary) each notched two hits at the plate Tuesday between the two contests, with Booker driving in one run. Freshman
Matt Lynch (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) led the Valiants with three RBIs on Tuesday and added two stolen bases as well. Freshman Matt Galas tossed two scoreless innings of relief in game two, striking out one Panther along the way.
Game One
The Valiants needed to break out the dramatics in game one of the doubleheader Tuesday, coming from behind in their last at bat to earn the victory. Manhattanville fell behind quickly, allowing four runs on four hits in the bottom of the first. As they have shown all season though, the Valiant bats were resilient scoring one run in the second on an RBI-double by freshman
Stephen Merrill (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and one run in the third on a Panther error to make it 4-2 midway through the third inning.
Purchase added a run in the fifth and the sixth and appeared to be well on their way to a victory, leading 6-2 entering the top of the seventh but the Crimson and Black had other intentions for the Panthers. Campana began the rally in the team's final at bat with a pinch-hit single to lead-off the inning. After a Purchase error and a groundout, Booker once again delivered a clutch piece of hitting, knocking in Campana with a single to right center to make it 6-3. Another Panther error allowed the Valiants to plate another run to make it a two-run game with two outs in the inning.
Matt Lynch (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) delivered the big hit with the game on the line, tripling to right field to plate seniors
Chris Conklin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) and
Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) to level the scoring 6-6. Sophomore
Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) gave the Valiants the lead with an infield single to push Lynch across, capping off the rally and giving the Valiants a 7-6 lead with three outs to play.
Freshman
Jarret Oehler (Bronx, N.Y./Salesian) came on in relief in the bottom half of the frame, allowing just an infield single in the Panthers' at bat to earn the save and cap off a dramatic victory for Manhattanville.
Game Two
The Valiant bats were not able to stay hot in game two of Tuesday's twin bill, as Manhattanville recorded just two hits in the nightcap. After being no-hit in their first four at bats, the Valiants used two walks and two stolen bases to put two runners in scoring position for senior
John Delahanty (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) who tied the score with a sacrifice fly before
Matt Lynch (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) drove home his third run of the day on a squeeze play to bring home sophomore
Kieran Corrigan (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and give the Valiants a 2-1 lead despite not having a hit on the scoreboard. Scoggins broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out bunt single and the Valiants took a one-run lead into the bottom of the fifth.
The lead was short-lived however, as Purchase pushed two runs across in the bottom half of the frame to retake the lead 3-2 with two innings to play.
Manhattanville's final hit of the evening came with two outs in the sixth, when Campana ripped a single to the opposite field, but it was the last base runner the Valiants would have the rest of the way, falling 3-2 in game two to settle for a series split with the Panthers.
The Valiants return to action tomorrow when they host Lehman College in non-conference action at Manhattanville Field beginning at 4:00 pm.
