Riverdale, N.Y. (April 19, 2006)--The legendary Earl Weaver once said that the three keys to victory in baseball are pitching, defense, and the three-run homer. Well, senior designated hitter
John Fitzpatrick wasted no time in making sure the Jaspers would get at least one of the three in the first inning by blasting a three-run bomb to dead center field to give Manhattan an early lead over Lehigh en route to a 9-3 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park. With the homer, which traveled an estimated 430 feet, Fitzpatrick not only gave his a three-run lead, but it also made him Manhattan's all-time home run king with 22.
As for the pitching aspect of Weaver's theory, freshman lefthander
Mike Gazzola gave the Jaspers six strong innings. In the six frames, the Westchester County native surrendered no runs and only two hits, while fanning seven Lehigh batters. Gazzola gave way to junior
Jeremy Shaw in the top half of the seventh, and Shaw brought more of the same. The righty reliever pitched a scoreless seventh, walking one and striking out two.
During their first turn at bat, the Jaspers were anything but content with just a three-run homer. Following Fitzpatrick's blast, Manhattan produced four more first-inning singles sandwiched around a
Ruben Perez sacrifice fly to take a 6-0 lead into the top of the second.
Manhattan increased its advantage in the next frame, when sophomore
Matt Rizzotti crushed a pitch over the right field fence, also plating catcher
Nick Derba to give the Jaspers an 8-0 lead. Centerfielder
Mike Garcia made the lead 9-0, when he lead off the fifth inning by hitting a laser over the left field fence for his 25th RBI on the season, which is second only to Rizzotti's 27.
Lehigh finally broke through with three runs in the eighth inning off of
Brian Searls, but
Matt Nevins came in to shut the door in emphatic fashion. Nevins struck out four in 1.2 hitless innings to seal the victory and boost Manhattan's overall record to 16-15.
In addition to Fitzpatrick's surpassing of the career home run mark, another Manhattan record came close to falling on Wednesday afternoon. With two stolen bases on the afternoon, Manhattan outfielder
Eric Nieto now has 23, only two short on the Jasper single season record. Nieto also had a good day at the plate as he went 2-5 with a run scored. Joining Nieto with a multiple hit game were Garcia, who was 2-4 with two runs score, and shortstop
Rene Ruiz, who finished 2-3 with an RBI.
The Jaspers return to the diamond at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, April 22, when they begin a three-game set with MAAC rival Iona. First pitch is 12:00 noon.
