Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College baseball team dropped a 15-13 decision at Delaware (5-3) Saturday in Bob Hannah Stadium. Sophomore Mark Onorati drove in four runs, while fellow outfielder Kevin Nieto was 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI in defeat.
The second game of the double-header was suspended in the top of the fifth due to darkness. The contest will be completed prior to tomorrow's double-header.
The Blue Hens broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second when Ryan Reed led off the inning with a solo home run and Ryan Cuneo had a two-run single to left field.
Manhattan (1-4) rallied to take a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth inning courtesy of an RBI single from Nieto and a two-run single by Onorati. Onorati was 2-for-5 and scored two runs.
Delaware recaptured the lead with five runs in the fourth and never trailed again. Jared Olson's three-run home run highlighted the Blue Hens' rally. In the sixth Cuneo drove in third baseman Carlos Alonso with a single into right field to put Delaware up 10-5.
The Jaspers tied the game at 10-10 with four runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. The surge featured an RBI double from Onorati and a RBI single from Ruben Perez in the sixth, and a solo homer from Nieto in the seventh.
Perez finished 4-for-6 and drove in two runs.
Delaware right fielder Bill Merkler had the game's biggest hit in the seventh - a grand slam that put the Blue Hens up 14-10.
Both teams scored in all but two innings on a tropical Saturday in the Mid Atlantic. First pitch was tossed under sunny skies with a reported temperature of 65 degrees.
The series will be completed tomorrow, starting with the suspended game which Delaware leads 4-1 in the top of the fifth. That game will be followed by the scheduled doubleheader.
