DOYLESTOWN, PA – Back-to-back two-out bases loaded walks kickstarted a five-run ninth inning for the Manhattanville College men's baseball team Wednesday afternoon, as the Valiants picked up a MAC Freedom victory over the Delaware Valley Aggies, 11-6.
Freshmen
Jack Matero (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) and
Luke Shaffer (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) combined for four hits and five RBI's, sophomores
Peter Iannarilli (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and
Matt Lynch (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) added three hits and four RBI's, and sophomore
Stephen Merrill (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) led all players with three hits.
Pat Badia (Somers, N.Y./Somers) went a season-high 5.2 innings for Manhattanville, allowing just two earned runs. Tom Crooks had two hits and two RBI's for Delaware Valley (8-14, 3-7 MACF).
With two out and nobody on in the top of the first, junior
Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) singled, then advanced to third when Matero reached on an error. Iannarilli followed with a single, scoring Scoggins. After the Aggies tied the game on a Crooks RBI triple in the bottom of the first, Lynch and Scoggins both delivered run-scoring singles in the second, putting Manhattanville up 3-1.
After a scoreless third inning for both sides, the Valiants tacked on a run in the fourth when Matero singled home classmate
Hathaway Roper (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell), but the Aggies rallied to tie the game with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and another run in the fifth. In the sixth, with two out and two on, Shaffer delivered a tie-breaking two-run double, scoring Lynch and junior
Kieran Corrigan (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac).
The two-run lead remained into the ninth inning. until Lynch and Corrigan drew back-to-back run-scoring walks, Matero followed with a two-run single, and Iannarilli drove in his team-leading 29
th run of the season with an infield single to break the game open for Manhattanville. Senior
William Mohr (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) allowed two runs in the ninth inning, but stranded the bases loaded to end the game.
With the win, Manhattanville moved into a tie for 3
rd place in the MAC Freedom with Wilkes, against whom the Valiants own the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of their series win last weekend.
Manhattanville kicks off its three-game conference series on the road against Misericordia Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
