PURCHASE, NY – Junior Stephen Merrill (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) had another monster day at the plate and classmate Justin Proteau (Wolcott, Conn./Canterbury School) turned in a masterful start as the Manhattanville College baseball team sealed its Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom seeding with a 9-3 win over the DeSales University Bulldogs Monday April 29.

Merrill hit a pair of two-run home runs, his second two-homer game in the last three weeks, finishing the day 2-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored for Manhattanville (23-15, 14-7 MACF). Fellow junior Joseph Silvestri (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, sophomore Hathaway Roper (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) finished 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, as did freshman Anthony Quatrochi (Fishkill, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes). On the mound, Proteau limited the Bulldogs to just one hit over five innings. Freshman Ryan Powers (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) tossed the final four innings for his first save as a Valiant. Robby Lamm and Charlie Barebo each had two hits for DeSales (21-17, 14-7 MACF).

Merrill's first bomb of the day put the Valiants up 2-0 in the bottom of the second. Sophomore Matthew Careccia (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) was inches away from a multi-RBI extra-base hit in the fourth, but a sensational diving catch by Bulldogs' right fielder Evan Plummer stranded the bases loaded.

DeSales scored a run on a balk in the sixth and had runners at the corners and no one out in the seventh, but Powers induced a pop out and double play to end the inning with Manhattanville still up 2-1.

Quatrochi gave the Valiants an insurance run with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. Careccia scored on a passed ball later in the inning to make it 4-1. Manhattanville busted the game open in the bottom of the eighth, as Roper delivered an RBI double, then scored on Merrill's second homer. Senior Luke Scoggins (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) later added a two-run double, putting the Valiants up 9-1.

DeSales scored twice in the ninth, but Powers closed out the win, clinching the two seed for Manhattanville in this weekend's MAC Freedom Tournament.

The Valiants wrap up the 2019 regular season with a non-conference game Wednesday, May 1 against the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.