Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College baseball team set the program's regular-season wins record as it picked up its 34th of the year in a 10-1 triumph over Iona (5-40-1, 5-19 MAAC) on Saturday in New Rochelle, N.Y. Sophomore outfielder Mark Onorati launched his fifth home run of the year and drove in four RBI as the Jaspers finished the regular-season slate on a high note. Freshman starter Matt Jordan picked up his fourth win on the hill pitching five innings with six strikeouts.
The Manhattan bats gave Jordan immediate run support as the Jaspers jumped out to a three run lead in the opening frame. Sophomore Mike McCann led off the contest with an infield single, and then Onorati sent him around the bases with a long ball which exited left field. McCann, the Jaspers regular-season batting leader with a .407 average, recorded his team leading 29th multi-hit game and 85th hit of the campaign.
Senior infielder Ruben Perez scored the Jaspers' third run of the inning after doubling in back-to-back at bats with junior Anthony Armenio. Armenio's RBI double marked his league leading 61st RBI and 21st double. It was also Perez's 20th double of the year, standing only second to Armenio in the MAAC.
Perez's stellar 10-for-16 (.625) performance in the series with Iona put the Jaspers' co-captain over the .400 plateau as he joins teammates McCann and Kevin Nieto (.406) in the top-four of the conference in batting average. Perez had six RBI and three doubles in the three game set.
Onorati knocked in his next two runs in the fourth inning to give the Jaspers a 5-0 advantage. The Williston Park, N.Y. native capitalized on a prime opportunity with two outs and the bases loaded by roping a base hit into center field allowing seniors Ryan Masters and Mark Russell to trot across home plate. Masters got the two out rally going with walk and Russell kept it alive with a single through the left side.
Masters added two more runs to the Jaspers' total in the fifth with a RBI single that he laced into right field giving his squad a 7-0 advantage, a comfortable cushion for Jordan to work with on the mound. Masters went 2-for-2 in the ballgame.
Jordan was strong through five innings as he limited Iona to just one run, while only yielding one walk. He turned the game over to fellow freshman Mike Giordano in the sixth who also delivered a solid performance. Giordano held the Gaels scoreless over the final four innings and allowed just four hits as he picked up the first save of his career.
Manhattan scored its final three runs of the contest in the seventh inning beginning with Nieto's RBI double in a pinch hitting opportunity. It was the center fielder's first at bat since suffering a minor injury two weeks ago at Niagara. It marked his 71st hit, 16th double and 54th RBI in 43 appearances this season.
Russell got the Jaspers' next run across the plate with a RBI infield grounder, and McCann knocked in the 10th run with a RBI single to left field, his 58th RBI of the year.
Manhattan finishes the regular-season leading the MAAC in batting average (.357), slugging percentage (.543), on-base percentage (.445), runs scored (473), hits (619), RBI (422) and doubles (124). The 2009 squad has shattered the program's single season marks in each of these categories, along with home runs (60). Manhattan also ranks top-10 in Division I in batting average and scoring (9.5 runs per game), and in the top-20 for slugging percentage and runs.
Manhattan (34-16, 18-6 MAAC) has earned its second consecutive MAAC Regular-Season Title and will enter the 2009 MAAC Championships as the #1 seed. The 2009 MAAC Championships begin Thursday evening at Waterfront Park in Trenton, N.J. The Japsers will face #4 Rider in the opening round at 7:30 p.m. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
