Riverdale, NY (May 4, 2005)- Manhattan put up eight runs in the eighth inning to break open a close game en route to a 15-5 win over Bronx rival Fordham this afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park. The bottom four batters in the Jasper lineup went a combined 7-15 with nine RBI and nine runs scored as Manhattan improves to 18-16, while the Rams fall to 29-16.
Manhattan put up the first crooked inning, as Ryan Marcoux singled from Matt Rizzotti in the bottom of the second.
Fordham responded with a run in the top of the third, but the Jaspers took the lead right back in the bottom of the frame on a Gary Diaz RBI sacrifice fly, scoring Eric Nieto, who had singled and stolen both second and third.
After the Rams again tied the score with a run in the top of the fourth to make the score 2-2, Manhattan plated three in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead once more. After Rizzotti and John Fitzpatrick walked to lead off the inning, Nunzio Franzese belted his third home run of the season to make the score 5-2 in favor of the Jaspers.
Fordham would tie the score once more in the top of the sixth, scoring three times to draw even at 5-5 before Manhattan took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame when Nieto tripled home John Maser before scoring himself on a RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Dom Lombardi to give Manhattan a 7-5 lead.
The Jaspers put the game away in the bottom of the eighth, plating eight runs on just four hits, taking advantage of three hit batsmen, three walks, and a wild pitch. Diaz and Nick Derba started things off with RBI singles, Nunzio Franzese plated a run after getting hit with the bases loaded, Nieto drew a bases loaded walk, and Ryan Marcoux and Lombardi each had two-RBI singles.
Jesse Darcy evened his record at 4-4 with the win.
Manhattan gets back in action this weekend, May 7-8, when the Jaspers host Canisius at Van Cortlandt Park in an important three-game MAAC series beginning with a double header on Saturday at 12 noon.