Riverdale, NY (April 28, 2004)- Manhattan scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings, and Nick Derba doubled home Frank Cappello in the bottom of the 10th to complete a six run comeback as the Jaspers downed Columbia, 10-9, today at Van Cortlandt Park. Manhattan improves to 13-20-1 on the season.
Down 9-4 after four and half innings, the Jaspers began their comeback in the bottom of the fifth, as John Fitzpatrick plated Matt Cucurullo with an RBI groundout. The score remained 9-5 until the bottom of the ninth, when after Derba led off the inning with a walk and went to third on a double by Sam Deluca, Manhattan but the Columbia lead to 9-7 after a Cucurullo single plated Derba and Deluca. After a popout, Fitzpatrick doubled home Cucurullo to cut the lead to just one, 9-8. After a strikeout, pinch hitter Tyler Sadler punched a single to left, scoring Nick Carbone, who had pinch ran for Fitzpatrick, knotting the score at 9-9 and setting the stage for Derba's heroics in the bottom of the tenth.
Columbia (12-25) plated three runs in the top of the first, single runs in the third and fourth, and four more in the fifth to open up a 9-4 lead, chasing two Manhattan pitchers. The Jaspers scored single runs in the second and third on a RBI double by John Maser and a sacrifice fly by Cucurullo, respectively. Manhattan scored twice in the fourth on a two-RBI double by Cappello, before staging the comeback.
Steve Bronder (2-3) picked up the win in relief, pitching five innings and allowing just one hit while striking out six. Brendan Quinn (1-5) took the loss for the Lions.
Cucurullo paced six Jaspers with multi-hit games, going 2-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Derba went 3-4 with two runs and one RBI.
Manhattan gets back in action this weekend, when the Jaspers host St. Peter's in a three game MAAC series at Van Cortlandt Park. The seven Manhattan seniors will be honored before the first of two games on Saturday, May 1. The first pitch is scheduled for 12 noon.