Manhattan Heads To Cal State Northridge

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Northridge, CA - After opening the season with three-straight tough-luck losses, Manhattan (0-3) returns to action with three games at Cal State Northridge (1-3).
 
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Fans can watch Sunday's series finale through the CSUN Sports Network by clicking HERE. Fans can also tune into audio-only streams for Friday and Saturday's games.
 
Schedule:
Game 1 - Friday, February 23- 5:00 pm (EST)
CSUN Sr. RHP Tei Vanderford (0-0; 4.50 ERA; 6.0 IP; 2 K; 1 BB; .227 opp. BA) vs. Manhattan GS LHP Joe Jacques (0-0; 1.80 ERA; 5.0 IP; 9 K; 0 BB; .423 opp. BA)
Game 2 - Saturday, February 24 - 4:00 pm (EST)
CSUN Fr. LHP Wesley Moore (0-1; 5.40 ERA; 5.0 IP; 9 K; 0 BB; .318 opp. BA) vs. Manhattan So. RHP Nick Massa (0-1; 6.43 ERA; 7.0 IP; 2 K; 1 BB; .231 opp. BA)
Game 3 - Sunday, February 25 - 4:00 pm (EST)
CSUN TBA vs. Manhattan TBA

MORE BOUNCE IN CALIFORNIA
This will be Manhattan's first-ever trip to the state of California as well as the first meeting between the teams.

DYK??
The Jaspers last game against a team from the state of California came on June 4, 2006 when they defeated San Francisco at the Lincoln Regional. 

DYK2???
CSUN Head Coach Greg Moore was an assistant on that San Francisco squad.

COLE COMES HOME
This year marks the beginning of the Mike Cole era of Manhattan Baseball. Cole served as an assistant for the Jaspers from 2005-2008 and was most recently an assistant at Fairfield where he helped the Stags to back-to-back MAAC Regular Season Championships and the 2016 MAAC Title.

CALIFORNIA LOVE
Junior College transfers Jacob Knight and Logan Muratella hail from the Golden State ... Additionally, two years ago Jasper signee and Long Beach native Tai Tiedemann was drafted by the Texas Rangers before inking a professional contract. 

FOR STARTERS
The duo of Jacques and Massa combined to strike out 11, against just two walks, over 12.0 innings last week at Stetson. Jacques fanned nine while yielding just one earned run over 5.0 innings with Massa limiting Hatter hitters to a paltry .231 average over a career-high 7.0 innings of action.

HAPPY RETURNS
Junior RHP Marc Galvan struck out two over 4.0 innings of one-hit ball in game three against Stetson after missing most of last year due to injury while classmate Joe DiNizio fired a hitless inning of relief in his first action since 2016.

WELCOME ABOARD
Freshman Will Trochiano made his presence felt immediately at Stetson, hitting a team-best .333 (3-of-9) with two runs, a double and a walk while reaching base safely in all three games.

THE BOOMSTICK
Graduate student Matt Forlow launched the first pitch he saw in the fifth inning for a grand slam off projected 2018 MLB Draft First Round pick Logan Gilbert. Forlow, like Trochiano, reached base safely in all three games.

RACE TO 100
Forlow is just five hits short of 100 for his career.

PENA SUPPLIES THE OFFENSE
Junior Fabian Pena went 2-for-9 with three RBI and a run last weekend at Stetson. Pena also moved into a tied for eighth in the Manhattan record books with his 47th career double.

SCOUTING CSUN
Cal State Northridge is paced by junior Trevor Casnova (.467, 4 R, HR, double, 4 RBI), senior Albee Weiss (.412, 3 HR, double, 8 RBI) and Justin Toerner (.400, 2 doubles, HR, 2 RBI) last weekend against BYU. Fueled by the trio, the Matadors combined for 10 doubles and seven home runs last weekend over four games against BYU.

THE RETURNERS
The Jaspers return 25 letterwinners, including seven starting position players, for the second-straight season. Click HERE for the entire prospectus.

PENA GARNERS PRESEASON HONORS
Pena was tabbed as the top MAAC pro prospect by both Baseball America (BA) and D1Baseball.Com.

PENA PACES THE OFFENSE
One of the top players in the Northeast since he set foot on campus as a freshman, Pena has hit .338 (144-of-426) with 47 doubles, 12 home runs and 89 RBI while starting all 109 Manhattan games during his time in Riverdale.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF Joe Jacques
Jacques returns after missing the bulk of last season due to injury. Jacques walked the lone two hitters he faced at Fairfield before being lifted due to injury. After missing the rest of the season, the Garden State native earned his year of eligibility back and was tabbed as the No. 10 prospect in the MAAC by BA and and No. 11 by D1.Baseball.Com.

BISSET BREAKS OUT
The unquestioned breakout star of last season was senior Brendan Bisset. After missing the bulk of his sophomore year due to injury, Bisset hit a team-leading .335 with 11 doubles, one triple, one home run and 29 RBI.

TOP TWO IN 2019 ...
Sophomore RHP T.J. Stuart was lauded as the No. 5 pro prospect from the MAAC in 2019 while Massa was tabbed as No. 9. Both players made an immediate impact as rookies a year ago and will figure prominently this season.

ROAD WARRIORS
Manhattan will play its first 33 games on the road after playing its first 17 away from home a year ago.

FROM THE BRONX TO THE PROS
Tom Cosgrove decided to forgo his final year of eligibility after being drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 12th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft while Jose Carrera inked a professional deal with the New York Yankees. Additionally, signee Tai Tiedemann was selected by the Texas Rangers in the eighth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

DUTCHESS STADIUM
Manhattan will call Duchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY home for the fourth-straight season, playing 14 games there.

MAAC PRESEASON POLL
The Jaspers were tabbed to finish 10th out of 11 teams.

THE STAFF
Former Manhattan great and 2017 Athletic Hall of Famer Chris Cody and Vincent Redmond complete Cole's first staff.

MAAC MAGIC
The Jaspers will be attempting to qualify for their third-straight MAAC Tournament and the fourth in five years after earning the sixth spot on the final day of the 2017 season.

SUNDAYS ARE FOR THE JASPERS
Manhattan went 7-2 in MAAC action on Sundays a year ago.

SEE YOU IN STATEN ISLAND
The 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship will be held at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, NY from May 23-26. The 2019 and 2020 championships will also be held at the home of the Single-A Staten Island Yankees.

WHAT'S A JASPER?
The unique nickname of Manhattan College's athletic teams, the Jaspers, comes from one of the College's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who served as the College's athletic director in the late 19th century. One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team's first coach. Since Brother Jasper was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan baseball games while also directing the team itself. During one particularly warm and humid day when the college was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy with the team coming to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called timeout and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed. Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880's and into the 1890's at the old Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the "seventh inning stretch" spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by millions of fans annually.

NEXT WEEKEND
Manhattan will play at VCU on Friday, March 2 with first pitch tabbed for 3:00 pm.