PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College baseball team completed a sweep of Skyline foe Saint Joseph's Brooklyn to open up the week on Monday afternoon. The 10-5 and 12-6 wins improves the Valiants' record to 8-9 overall and 3-1 to open up conference play.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 10, Saint Joseph's Brooklyn 5
The Valiants scored in four of their six innings at the plate, hanging a trio of three spots en route to the victory in the opener.
Michael Musantry (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) accounted for half of the Valiants' runs as he drove in five to lead the effort at the dish.
Tyler Mandel (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) drove in three runs of his own.
The Bears scored in the top of the first before Manhattanville grinded out a run in their first at-bats.
Brian Bornkamp (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) led off with a single before stealing second and third. He would come around to score on the first of Musantry's RBIs, reaching on a fielder's choice that tied up the game.
The Valiants had their first crooked number of the day in the third, loading the bases with no outs. Mandel was hit by a pitch to bring home
Gabe Astrologo (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic Prep) with the go-ahead run. A Musantry sacrifice fly scored Bornkamp while
Joshua Gillison (Buchanan, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single to score
Jake Parisi (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach).
Up 4-1 entering the fourth, the Valiants plated another three insurance runs. Mandel dropped a single into left with the bases loaded, driving in a pair of runs, while Musantry collected another RBI on a ground out to put the Valiants up 7-1.
The beneficiary of the run support was
Chris Antonelli (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), who would improve to 2-1 on the year with the win. The junior went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out four. After allowing the run in the first, Antonelli held the Bears in check until the sixth when he surrendered a two run single to TJ Moussette.
Myles Durney (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) came in for relief to get a strikeout to end the inning before going the rest of the way to close out the game.
Manhattanville got three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. After Astrologo scored on a wild pitch, Musantry drilled a ball to deep center field. The senior raced around the bases with a two-run inside-the-park homer to put the Valiants up 10-3.
The Bears got to Durney for a pair of runs in the seventh, but that would be all as the Valiants took the opener 10-5.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 12, Saint Joseph's Brooklyn 6
The story of the doubleheader finale was
TJ Fuerst (Purchase, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) as the sophomore came out of the pen to provide some much needed relief with a gem of an outing.
The Bears would put up six runs in the first three innings to spell an early end to
Matthew Messina's (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) start. Enter Fuerst at the top of the fourth who allowed just two hits in six shutout innings while punching out eight. Fuerst's great outing allowed the Valiants to erase what was a two-run deficit to complete the sweep.
Saint Joseph's and Manhattanville once again traded runs in the first. It would be Musantry again opening up the scoring as his sac fly tied up the game at 1-1.
The Valiants would take the lead with a three run second inning.
Marco Clara (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) scored on a sac bunt attempt by Astrologo that resulted in all runners being safe. The resulting base runners caused more chaos as a pickoff attempt by the Bears ended up in center field to allow
Michael Matica (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) to score. Astrologo would then cross the plate on a double play to put the Valiants ahead 4-1.
The lead was short lived as the Bears put five runs on the board in the third, highlighted by a three-run blast by Lou Lombardi. With the dust settled in the inning, Saint Joseph's took a 6-4 lead.
With Fuerst dealing and holding the suddenly-explosive Bear offense in check, Manhattanville went back in front in the fourth. Parisi cut the lead down to one with an RBI single to score Matica before Musantry once again delivered, drilling a double down the left field line to score a pair and put the Vals ahead 7-6.
A Mandel single plated an insurance run in the fifth before a four-run sixth put the game out of reach. Clara, Matica and Bornkamp all hit run-scoring doubles, with Matica's two-bagger driving in a pair.
No Bear would advance past second base with Fuerst on the mound as the Valiants secured the 12-6 victory.
Up Next
The Valiants return to action tomorrow for a non-conference road game at New Jersey City at 3:30 p.m.
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