PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College baseball team hosted future Skyline Conference foe Mount Saint Mary College Wednesday night, March 13, for the Valiants' home-opener at the Purchase College baseball field, but were defeated by the visiting Knights 5-4.
 
Manhattanville (3-3), fresh off its 8-2 drubbing over the College of New Rochelle Tuesday night, March 12, got off to a slow start against Mount Saint Mary (3-2), as the Valiants fell behind 5-0 after four and a half innings of play. However, the home squad mounted a comeback and outscored the Knights 4-0 in the second half of the ball game – it was not enough though as the Valiants suffered the defeat.
 
Rookie hurler Ryan Powers (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) made his second-career appearance – both times in relief – and was solid on the mound for four innings from the fifth through the eighth. The freshman lefthander allowed just two hits and one earned run with five strikeouts and had his two-seamer and slider working all night long.
 
Sophomore catcher Jack Matero (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) and junior designated hitter Peter Iannarilli (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) were the offensive producers for the Valiants on the night. Matero was 2-for-4 with an RBI, a double, a walk and a run scored, while Iannarilli also went 2-for-4 and added two RBIs, a walk and a run scored in addition to his ninth-inning leadoff solo homer.
 
Freshman Tyler Viscusi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) got the start for Manhattanville but lasted just two innings and allowed one earned on two hits to get saddled with the loss. Junior Justin Proteau (Wolcott, Conn./Canterbury School) cruised through the third inning before allowing three runs to score in the fourth. That's when Powers entered the contest. The rookie allowed one hit and a walk in his first inning of work, which ended in a rundown between first and second to allow the runner at third to score – that was the only run he allowed on the night.
 
From that point on, Powers would get into trouble here and there, allowing a few base runners per inning, but the visiting Knights never broke through to score another run for the remainder of the game. All the while, the Valiants began chipping away at the deficit with a run per inning in four of the final five.
 
Manhattanville returns to action this weekend for a three-game series to open Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play versus Eastern University. The Valiants and Eagles begin in St. Davids, Pa., Friday afternoon, March 15, at 3:30 p.m. with a single game. Then the series shifts back to Purchase for a doubleheader Sunday afternoon, March 17, hosted again at the Purchase College baseball field.