RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? Freshman left-hander Dan Forman earned his first win of the 2008 campaign and led the Manhattan College baseball team to a 7-3 victory over Rider (8-8, 1-2) this afternoon in Lawrenceville, N.J. Forman threw seven innings, notched seven strikeouts and held the Broncs without an earned run. Senior third baseman Dom Lombardi continued his recent hot streak going 3-for-4 from the plate, including two doubles, and knocked in two RBIs. With the victory, Manhattan (6-10-1, 2-1) takes the series with Rider winning two of its three contests.
Manhattan posted its first run of the game in the top of the first when Kevin Nieto scored on an error after singling earlier in the inning. Nieto was a perfect 4-for-4 and scored three runs.
After putting up a run in both the fourth and fifth innings, the Jaspers broke the contest open with four runs in the top of the sixth and chased the Broncs' starting lefty Mike Thomas out of the game. Manhattan got nine hits and seven runs off of Thomas.
Rider's sixth inning troubles began when Nieto singled up the middle in the lead off spot. He later scored on a fielding error by Broncs' third baseman David Heyne.
Later in the inning, Lombardi doubled to left field which allowed freshman Chad Salem to round the bases. In the next at bat, Austin Sheffield singled which moved Lombardi in position to score soon after on a wild pitch.
Sheffield crossed the plate for the final run of the inning thanks in part to a Ruben Perez RBI single to left field.
The Broncs got three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh before sophomore right-hander Brian Pendergast came in from the bullpen and pitched two scoreless innings to wrap up the contest.
Manhattan returns to action on Tuesday for its non-conference matchup with Long Island University. Game time is slated for 3 p.m. in Brooklyn.
