WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Manhattanville College baseball team dropped the finale of its Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom series with the King's College Monarchs 8-3 Tuesday, March 26 from Lipo Field.

Manhattanville (6-7, 3-2 MACF) swept a doubleheader at Manhattanville Field last Sunday but missed out on a chance to complete the series sweep against the Monarchs.

Sophomores Hathaway Roper (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) and Luke Shaffer (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) each had at least one hit, one run scored, and one RBI apiece for the Valiants; junior Joseph Silvestri (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) had an RBI hit and freshman Tyler Viscusi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) had two hits for the visitors. Dan Hartson finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored and Kyle Friebolin went 3-for-5, including a home run, with two runs scored and four RBI's for King's (6-9, 3-3).

King's took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but the Valiants responded quickly in the top of the second. Sophomore Jack Matero (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) walked to open the inning, then came around to score on a Shaffer double. After Shaffer advanced to third on a groundout, Roper singled him home to tie the game. After a strikeout, Silvestri doubled down the right field line, plating Roper and putting the Valiants in front.

Neither team put a man past second base between the bottom of the second and top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, King's took advantage of a throwing error to tie the game at three. The Valiants put two runners in scoring position in the fifth with a chance to take the lead, but were unable to cash in. The Monarchs added three in the fifth and two in the sixth on Friebolin's home run to open a five-run cushion.

Pitching took over down the stretch as the two teams combined for no runs and five hits over the final 2.5 innings. Juniors Danny Meduri (Stamford, Conn./Stamford) and John Cirillo (Stormville, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) tossed a combined two scoreless innings, striking out a batter apiece.

The Valiants are back in action in non-conference play tomorrow, March 27, at 3:30 at Manhattanville Field against the Western Connecticut State University Colonials.