MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Concluding the weekend for Manhattanville College Athletics, the Valiants varsity baseball team was swept in Sunday's doubleheader at Montclair State University. The 8-1 and 8-7 losses drops Manhattanville back down to .500 on the year at 5-5 overall.

Game One Recap: Montclair State 8, Manhattanville 1
The Red Hawks scored in each of the first two innings en route to taking a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning. Montclair State was the first team to get to Valiant starter Travis Brescia (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) this season, tagging the junior for six runs (five earned) on eight hits across five innings, striking out three. Brescia would take his first loss of the season, falling to 2-1 with his ERA now sitting at 3.21 on the year.

Manhattanville would be held hitless until the fourth when Tyler Viscusi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) singled through the right side of the infield. Michael Musantry (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) would add another single in the fifth before the Valiants would finally get on the board in the sixth on Viscusi's second single of the game, driving in Joe McDonald (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) to make the score 6-1. That would be all the Valiant bats would be able to muster in the opener, as Manhattanville would go without a hit over the final three innings of play. The Red Hawks, meanwhile, scored twice in the seventh against reliever Thomas Iazzetta (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake) who threw three innings and allowed four hits. The two runs were the first the junior has surrendered this season, moving his ERA to 1.80.

Matt Pontari threw 5.2 innings for Montclair State to earn the win, allowing just the lone McDonald run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight. The Valiants were silenced by Nicholas Sefick, who allowed no hits and one walk, striking out a pair over 3.1 innings to earn the save.

Game Two Recap: Montclair State 8, Manhattanville 7
The bats came to life for the Valiants in the nightcap, but six-run Red Hawk rally over the seventh and eighth innings allowed Montclair State to come back and earn the doubleheader sweep.

The Valiants would build out a 7-2 lead across the first six innings, using five hits and one Red Hawk error to pull ahead. Sean Demo (Bloomfield, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) put together a quality start, going six innings and scattering eight hits, allowing two runs and striking out one.

While Montclair State was able to get to Demo in the second and the third for one run apiece, the Valiants plated a pair of runs in the top of the third on a two RBI McDonald double that scored Frank Delgado (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and Anthony Pressimone (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac). With the game tied at 2-2, Manhattanville had their best inning of the day, hanging three runs on the board in the fifth. Deven Silva (Yonkers, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) led off the frame with a double, and following a Brian Bornkamp (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) walk, Anthony Caputo (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt. Montclair pitcher Jacob Dembin mishandled the play, allowing Caputo to reach safely and Silva to score. Bornkamp crossed in the next at-bat on a Pressimone sacrifice fly while Caputo would scamper home on a wild pitch two batters later, giving the Valiants a 5-2 lead.

Silva got involved again one inning later, dropping a single into center field with runners on second and third to score Jake Parisi (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) and Braden Kunda (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester). The Valiants carried the 7-2 lead into the seventh when Demo gave way to Viscusi in relief. It was a rough outing for the senior, as he was greeted immediately by a Jorden Jurkiewicz solo shot. A pair of batters hit by pitches allowed Max McLoughlin to drive a runner home with two away on a single, cutting the lead down to 7-4. Viscusi was able to escape the rest of the inning unscathed following a fly out, but after a leadoff single and a wild pitch began the eighth, Viscusi was pulled with one out in the bottom of the frame.

The Red Hawks would plate four runs in the eighth to retake the lead for the first time since the second inning as nine batters came to the plate. Jurkiewicz completed his cycle with an RBI double off of Myles Durney (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester), while Montclair State would capitalize on a pair of errors and wild pitches to score three more runs. Manhattanville would get the tying run into scoring position in the ninth, but Jack Haveson got a strikeout and a flyout to strand the runner and get the save.

Up Next
The Valiants begin the new week on Monday with a junior varsity game at Mount Saint Mary at 3:30 p.m. The varsity squad returns to action on Tuesday with a home contest against William Paterson at 3:30.

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