POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College baseball team tried to rally against Vassar College Tuesday but came up short in the team's second to last non-conference matchup of the season, falling 9-8 to the Brewers at Prentiss Field.
 
Despite allowing nine runs on 16 hits on the afternoon while committing three errors, the Valiants hung tough with the Brewers, putting the tying run in scoring position in the ninth inning before the rally was cut short by Brewers relief pitcher Jake Doyle who earned the save Tuesday.
 
Freshman John Cirillo (Stormville, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) had the lone multi-hit performance for Manhattanville, posting a 2-for-2 day at the plate with an RBI to lead the offensive attack. Senior Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep), and freshmen Stephen Merrill (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and Luke Tebolt (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) each scored twice and five different Valiants recorded an RBI in the loss. On the mound, junior Antonio Ogando (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and freshmen Justin Proteau (Wolcott, Conn./Canterbury School) and Richie Vetrano (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland) combined for four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
 
Vassar set the tone early in the game, scoring in their first three plate appearances to take a 7-0 lead after three innings of play. Manhattanville finally got the offense clicking in the fourth inning though, scoring four runs albeit on just one hit, and Vassar stranded the bases loaded to limit the damage and keep it a 7-4 game midway through the fourth inning. The offense continued for the Crimson and Black in the fifth, when R. Lynch earned first base on a hit by pitch and Campana followed with a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Merrill followed suit with a single to left field to make it a two-run game, and Cirillo delivered a two-out single through the left side on an 0-2 count to pull the Valiants within one heading to the sixth.
 
Vassar battled back in the sixth however, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the frame to extend the lead back up to three runs with three innings to play. After loading the bases with no outs in the seventh, the Valiants scored a run on a double play ball to get within two, but stranded a runner on third base to end the inning. A leadoff single by sophomore Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) in the eighth gave the Valiants life once again, but a beautiful catch on a line drive by R. Lynch down the third base line kept Scoggins from scoring, and Vassar eventually worked out of the jam to keep it a two-run game.
 
Heading to their final at bat, the Valiants led off the inning with a walk by Tebolt who later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Another walk and a double steal put the tying run in scoring position for Manhattanville who got one run back with a sacrifice fly by freshman catcher Joseph Silvestri (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), making it 9-8 with one out in the inning. Doyle however painted the corner on a 2-2 count the following batter for the strikeout and induced a game-ending fly out to hold off the Valiants.
 
Manhattanville continues its busy stretch of games tomorrow when they wrap up the 2017 Battle of Anderson Hill Road series with Purchase College beginning at 4:00 pm.