PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College baseball team concluded the regular season on Sunday, dropping a pair of games to Skyline Conference foe United States Merchant Marine Academy. With the pair of losses, the Valiants sport a 19-18 record on the year and an 11-9 conference mark. Manhattanville has earned the No. 6 seed in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament, which will begin on Wednesday.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 10, USMMA 12
The Valiants fought back from a 6-0 deficit and led late, but a four run seventh inning by the visiting Mariners gave USMMA the victory in the opener.
Manhattanville fell behind as Merchant Marine scored two runs in the second before hanging a four spot in the fourth to stake claim to a 6-0 lead. However, despite being held hitless through the first three innings, the Valiants erupted for six runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game up.
Tyler Viscusi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) hit an RBI double before
Jake Parisi (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) and
Joe McDonald (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) drew back-to-back bases loaded walks to half the USMMA lead. With the bags still loaded,
Brian Bornkamp (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) cleared the bases with a three run triple, suddenly bringing the game back to even.
Merchant Marin went back in front with two runs in the sixth, but once again the Valiants responded to take their first lead of the day. After McDonald reached with a leadoff single,
Anthony Caputo (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) hit his first career home run to tie the game up 8-8. Four batters later, Viscusi came through with the bases loaded opportunity, dropping a single in to center field to bring
Frank Delgado (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and
Anthony Quatrochi (Fishkill, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) home as the Valiants took a 10-8 lead into the final inning.
Merchant Marine had one more rally up their sleeves, however, as the Mariners were able to plate four runs in the seventh to go back ahead.
Sean Demo (Bloomfield, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) would be charged with three of the runs and was saddled with the loss, giving up four hits in 0.1 innings. The Valiants were retired in order in the bottom of the seventh to close out the game.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 9, USMMA 11
Another back and forth game that featured no shortage of offense, USMMA was once again able to come back in their final at-bats to complete the sweep of the Valiants.
After the Mariners got to starter
Jackson Branigan (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) for a run in the first and three unearned runs in the second, the Manhattanville bats picked up their pitcher with five runs in the bottom of the second.
Matt Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland) and
Joshua Gillison (Buchanan, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) hit back-to-back doubles to open up the gram and score the first Valiant run, before Parisi drove in a pair with a bases loaded single. Gregory Luicen, Jr. evened the game at 4-4 with an RBI single before Michael Mattica drove in to go-ahead run on a groundout. In all, the Valiants used four hits to jump in front.
After the Mariners tied the game in the fourth, Caputo put Manhattanville back on to with a two-run double in the fifth inning. USMMA would continue to be tough outs, scoring a run in the sixth before going ahead with a two spot in the seventh. The Valiants were quick to reclaim the lead, however, as Caputo struck once again with his second homer of the day, a two-run blast over the left center wall that put Manhattanville up 9-8.
Yet, as was the story in the opener, the bullpen faltered in the final frame for the Valiants as Merchant Marine was able to rally. After the Mariners tied the game off of
Jay Lockwood (Stamford, Conn./Stamford),
Myles Durney (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) was unable to keep the game tied as a bases loaded single brought two runs home to put USMMA up 11-9. The Valiants got two aboard in the ninth as
Braden Kunda (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) and Delgado drew walks, but a pair of strikeouts closed out the game.
Up Next
As the No. 6 seed, the Valiants will be in action in the opening round of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament on Wednesday. Manhattanville will take on third-seeded Mount Saint Vincent in a single-elimination contest, with a start time to be announced.
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