PURCHASE, N.Y. – Despite falling to Misericordia 11-5, the Manhattanville College baseball team earned a spot in the MAC Freedom postseason tournament for the sixth consecutive season Thursday afternoon.
The Valiants clinched a spot in the tournament after King's College defeated Eastern University 7-6 earlier in the afternoon, eliminating the Eagles from postseason contention. The Valiants will now wait to find out their opponent after this weekend's results.
Junior
Nick Campana (Yonkers, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Elementary) and sophomore
Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) each went 2-for-4 at the plate for the day, with Scoggins adding an RBI. Senior
Joe Booker (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) added two RBIs as well for the Valiants and senior
Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) remained perfect in stolen base attempts this season with two swipes on the day. Freshman
Matt Galyas (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) added 3.2 innings of relief, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three and sophomore
Thomas Contrelli (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) closed out the game with 1.2 innings of work, allowing one run.
After falling behind in the top of the first, the Valiants added four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a three-run lead. The scoring started when Scoggins knocked in Campana with a single through the middle of the infield, and later scored on a throwing error by Misericordia to make it 2-1 Manhattanville. Booker closed out the scoring with a two-run single to left center to put Manhattanville on top but Cougar starter Tim Burek settled in nicely on the mound, shutting out the Valiants over the next six innings before giving way to the bullpen.
Misericordia plated two runs in the third and five in the fourth to take a commanding lead and never looked back. Manhattanville got one run back in the eighth but ultimately fell to Misericordia 11-5 in the opening game of the three-game set.
The Valiants are scheduled to return to action Saturday with the final two games of the series on the road in Dallas, Pennsylvania.
