PURCHASE, N.Y. – On a sunny April afternoon, the Manhattanville College baseball team was finally able to play their first game of the season on the home diamond, splitting the opening two games with King's College in MAC Freedom action Sunday at Manhattanville Field.
Junior
Pat Badia (Somers, N.Y./Somers) was masterful on the mound for Manhattanville, earning the win in game one after tossing five innings, scattering four hits and allowing two runs while striking out three. At the plate, sophomore
Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) had a big day, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles and four runs scored. Junior
Danny Gallagher (Nanuet, N.Y./Paramus Catholic) also racked up three hits over the two games, and freshman
Peter Iannarilli (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) went 2-for-4 with a homerun and three runs batted in.
Game One
The Valiants jumped on top in game one in the second inning when senior
Joe Booker (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) continued to tout a clutch bat at the plate, delivering a two-out single to drive in Scoggins, making it 1-0 Manhattanville. The lead did not last long however as King's responded with a run in their next two plate appearances before the Valiant bats came to life.
In the bottom of the fourth, Iannarilli turned on an inside fastball and blasted a two-run bomb to right field to give Manhattanville the lead 3-2. In their next at bat, senior
Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) drove in Gallagher with a sacrifice fly and Iannarilli followed it up with a single two batters later to score Scoggins again and make it 5-2 in favor of the Valiants.
King's attempted a rally in the sixth, plating two runs but junior
William Mohr (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) worked out of a bases loaded jam and then shut the door in the seventh to earn his team-best third save of the season and help Manhattanville take the series opener 5-4.
Game Two
It was all King's from the opening pitch in game two, as the Monarchs started the game with a double and followed it up with a homerun by Chris Rebar to make it 2-0. The Monarchs added another run in the first on an RBI single and took a 3-0 lead into the bottom half of the frame. The Valiants plated their only run of the game in the bottom of the second when Booker brought home Scoggins with an RBI groundout, but that was all the Valiants could muster offensively. King's added three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth, capping off the scoring with a single run in the sixth inning to take an 11-1 lead and held on for good the rest of the way.
The Valiants and Monarchs will battle for the series win tomorrow when they wrap up the three-game series at the Robert L. Betzler Athletic Complex with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 pm.
