West Point, NY (April 13, 2005)-
Steve Bronder twirled five perfect innings, and five different Jaspers tallied at least two RBI as Manhattan downed Army, 15-7, this afternoon at Doubleday Field on the West Point campus. The Jaspers even their record at 10-10.
Manhattan got off to a fast start, as
Dom Lombardi led off the game with a single, and promptly stole second. Two batters later,
Matt Rizzotti doubled him home, giving the Jaspers an early, 1-0, lead.
In the top of the third, Manhattan loaded the bases with none out before
Nick Derba plated
Eric Nieto with an RBI sacrifice fly. Rizzotti then brought home Lombardi on an Army error.
Marc Giordano then made the score 5-0 in favor of Manhattan with a two-RBI double, chasing home Rizzotti and
Gary Diaz.
The Jaspers blew the game open with a five run sixth. The first run came home when Rizzotti drew a bases loaded walk.
John Fitzpatrick followed with a two-RBI single, driving home Derba and Diaz. Giordano and
John Maser each tallied run scoring singles to make the score 9-0 Manhattan after five and a half innings.
In the bottom of the sixth,
Matt Nevins came on in relief of Bronder, who had twirled five perfect innings, striking out two. Nevins allowed a one out solo homer to Cole White to put Army on the board.
Manhattan added two more runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run blast off Derba's bat, scoring Diaz. The homer was Derba's third in the last two games and gave him the team lead.
In the top of the eighth an RBI double by Nieto and a two run four-bagger from Lombardi made the score 15-1 Manhattan.
The Black Knights would rally for six runs in the eighth, drawing to within eight, 15-7, but would get no closer.
Manhattan returns to the diamond this weekend, April 16-17, when the Jaspers travel to New Rochelle, NY for a three game MAAC series with local rival Iona. The opening game of the series is slated to begin at 12 noon.
