HARRISON, N.Y. – Playing at a slightly-different venue than usual for their home opener, the Manhattanville College baseball team kicked off conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Yeshiva on Friday at Silver Lake Park. The Valiants outscored the Maccabees 23-0 across the two contests, improving to 4-2 on the season and starting Skyline Conference competition with a 2-0 mark.

Game One Recap: Manhattanville 14, Yeshiva 0
The deep outfield dimensions of Silver Lake made extra base hits an adventure all-day long, with the Valiants immediately using the open space to hang a nine spot up in the bottom of the first inning. Manhattanville used four extra base hits in the first frame to jump out to a commanding lead. The run production started after Joe McDonald (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) drew a leadoff walk and put himself in scoring position with a steal. Brian Bornkamp (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) was the first to capitalize on the spacious outfield, lining a triple to right center to put the Valiants on the board. After Tyler Mandel (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) dropped in an RBI single, Matt Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland) rifled a hit to deep right field that just kept carrying as the grad student legged out the first inside-the-parker. Michael Matica (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) hit an RBI triple to right center before Justin Renauto (Valhalla, N.Y./Valhalla) lined one back up the middle to bring home the sixth run.

Two batters later, Bornkamp stepped up again to blast another shot into the outfield, this time to dead central. The senior turned on the jets and was not going to stop at third this time around, scoring three runs on his homer.  

With nine insurance runs to work with before making his second trip to the mound, Travis Brescia (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) was able to cruise to a win. The junior tossed four shutout innings while allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out five. Brescia is now 2-0 to start the year and has yet to allow a run.

Manhattanville would plate an unearned run in the second as Braden Kunda (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) scampered home on a Tyler Viscusi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) groundout. The lead would hold at 10-0 until the fourth, when Manhattanville plated four more runs. After Kunda scored on another ground out, this time off the bat of Matica with the bases loaded, Bornkamp would draw a walk with the bags full to bring in another run. Mandel then came to the plate with the bags loaded and dropped a single into left to score McDonald and Viscusi with the final runs of the contest.

Much like in Sunday's win over Bridgewater State, Brescia gave way to Thomas Iazzetta (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake) on the mound to close out the contest. The junior reliever earned a three inning save, surrendering one hit and a walk while recording two punchouts. Iazzetta has now earned a save in both of his appearances, with both coming via multi-inning efforts.

Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 9, Yeshiva 0
Just like in the opener, Manhattanville used a dominant first inning to set the tone and never look back. The Valiants put up five in the first against Yeshiva's Joey Kalish, making the starter work right from the first pitch. Frank Delgado (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and Anthony Caputo (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) drew back-to-back walks before double-stealing to put immediate runners in scoring position. Mandel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tuite and Kunda showed good plate discipline to both draw walks that scored a pair. An error on a Joe Laporta ground ball plated Mandel before Viscusi got the big hit of the inning, a 2 RBI double that put the home team up 5-0.

After retiring the side in order in the first, Ray White (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland) was able to work four very effective innings to earn the win on the mound. The rookie hurler allowed only one hit in his appearance and struck out four. Alby Ciuffetelli (Mahopac, N.Y./Yorktown) did most of the work out of the pen, tossing three scoreless while striking out three. DJ Nakashima (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid Pacific Institute) and Bryan Grant (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) threw an inning each to close out the game.

Manhattanville scored an insurance run in the second off a Caputo sac fly before scoring another three in the third. Kunda led off the frame with a single before stealing second and third, allowing the sophomore to score on Viscusi's single. Delgado drilled a double three batters later to score a pair as the Valiant arms did the rest of the work to hold Yeshiva scoreless across 15 total innings.

Up Next
The next Manhattanville baseball action will see the junior varsity team play its first-ever home game on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. against Rockland Community College. The varsity team will next hit the field on Mar. 18 at 3:30 p.m. versus Baruch.

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