Manhattan Set For Three Games With Rider

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Wappingers Falls, NY - Manhattan (18-18; 7-2 MAAC) will open a four-game homestand against Rider (9-21; 4-4 MAAC) beginning on Saturday, April 21 with a doubleheader at 12:00 pm in the friendly confines of Dutchess Stadium.
 
Schedule:
Game 1 - Saturday, April 21 - 12:00 pm
Jr. RHP Marc Galvan (3-3; 3.70 ERA; 41.1 IP; 29 K; 17 BB; .258 opp. BA)
Game 2 - Saturday, April 21- 3:00 pm
GS RHP Matt Simonetti (4-2; 2.79 ERA; 48.1 IP; 53 K; 14 BB; .227 opp. BA)
Game 3 - Sunday, April 22 - 12:00 pm
TBA

CLOSING IT OUT
The Jaspers are 15-0 this year when leading after seven innings, including 14-1 when owning a lead after four innings of play, and have scored 30 runs in the ninth inning, the most of any frame.

HOME SWEET HOME
After playing 32 games on the road to start the season, Manhattan will play 14 of its final 21 games at Dutchess Stadium.
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
The Jaspers' 16 road victories are tied with UConn and Kent State for second in the nation.
 
HOW YOU DOING?
With last weekend's series victory over Fairfield, Head Coach Mike Cole has now faced all three of his former mentors. Cole was swept by nationally-regarded Stetson and Steve Trimper before dropping two-of-three to Fordham and Kevin Leighton.
 
SIMONETTI STEPS UP ... AGAIN
Simonetti dealt his third complete game in his last four starts against Fairfield while extending his scoreless streak to 28.0 innings. During his run he is 3-1 with 30 strikeouts, against just five walks, a 0.00 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP while holding opposing hitters to a .190 average.
Last Four Starts:
Fairfield | L, 0-1 | 7.0 IP | 5K | 0BB | 7H
Siena | W, 3-1 | 7.0 IP | 6K | 1BB | 6H
Fordham | W, 2-0 | 7.0 IP | 9K | 2BB | 5H
SPU | W, 2-0 | 7.0 IP | 10K | 2BB | 2H

ON THE YEAR ...
Simonetti's three complete games lead the MAAC and rank second nationally while his 53 strikeouts are third in the league and 53rd nationally.
 
DYK??
Simonetti's four wins match his total from his first three seasons while his 53 strikeouts are behind his career total of 56 entering the year.

STUART THE CLOSER
Sophomore RHP T.J. Stuart continued his strong start to the year, earning a save and a win in Manhattan's series victory over Fairfield and is yielding a NCAA-best 3.22 hits per nine innings. Stuart also paces the MAAC and ranks among the national leaders in ERA (1.73-39th NCAA), saves (7-33rd NCAA) and WHIP (0.80-8th NCAA).
 
LUCKY NUMBER 13
In each of the last 13 games Stuart has pitched in, the Jaspers have emerged victorious. Additionally, Stuart has directly had a hand in 61.1 percent of Manhattan's 18 victories (7 saves, 4 wins).

GALVAN COMING UP CLUTCH
Junior RHP Marc Galvan struck out five, against just one walk, while yielding a single run on four hits over 5.0 solid innings of relief in earning the series-opening victory against Fairfield.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU
Sophomore RHP Alexis Calderon fired 3.0 scoreless innings of relief in last weekend's series-clinching win over Fairfield and has fanned 26 over 26.0 innings of work this year.

MIDWEEK MAGIC
Junior RHP Matt Jones fired 3.0 hitless innings at LIU Brooklyn and has a 1.69 ERA over 16.0 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a .164 average.

BISSET DELIVERS ... AGAIN
For the second-straight year, senior Brendan Bisset capped Manhattan's first home series with a walk-off hit as he belted a 2-0 pitch to right-center to plate sophomore Alex Cerda in the Jaspers' 4-3 series-clinching win over Fairfield.
 
APRIL ACTION
Bisset is hitting .310 (13-of-42) with four RBI, three runs and seven walks en route to posting a .408 OBP in the month of April.
 
PENA PUTTING UP NUMBERS
Over his last 12 games, Fabian Pena is hitting .333 (14-of-42) with four doubles, two home runs, six RBI, six runs and a .571 slugging percentage. 
 
THE LEADERBOARD
Pena ranks among the MAAC leaders in doubles (10-4th), RBI (29-5th), home runs (5-7th), runs (25-7th) and hits (39-9th) while adding a team-leading .478 slugging percentage.

PADRE CONTINUES TORRID PLAY
Freshman Matt Padre is hitting .389 (21-of-54) over his last 16 games with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, 12 runs and 12 RBI while posting a .593 slugging percentage and a .469 OBP. Additionally, he has reached base safely in 11-straight games and 15-of-16. On the year, he is hitting .288, including a team-leading .393 during MAAC play, with four doubles, one triple, two home runs and 14 RBI.

VALLS DOING WORK
Since being inserted into the starting line-up, senior Brandon Valls is batting .286 (10-of-35) with six runs and five RBI. 
 
BARRELLA BREAKS
Junior Richie Barrella has been the unquestioned breakout performer for Manhattan on offense, batting .321 (15th MAAC) with 43 hits (4th MAAC) and a team-leading 12 multi-hit games.

FORLOW STANDS OUT
Graduate student Matt Forlow has established himself as one of the top power threats in the MAAC ranking third in the league with 11 doubles and 30 RBI to go along with two triples and two home runs. Additionally, he has made just two errors in his first year as the primary shortstop.
 
TROCH OUT FOR THE YEAR
Freshman Will Trochiano had been arguably the top rookie in the MAAC before a fluke injury ended his rookie campaign. He was hitting .333 (31-of-93) with seven doubles, a home run and 12 RBI while reaching base safely in 21-straight games to start his career.

TROCH FEATURED IN THE ASBURY PARK PRESS
Trochiano was recently featured in an article entitled "Trochiano Brothers Beat The Odds With Manhattan, Monmouth." Click HERE for the full article.
 
COSGROVE READY FOR YEAR TWO IN THE PROS
2017 All-MAAC performer and 12th Round selection of the San Diego Padres will begin his second professional season with Fort Wayne of the Midwest League. Click HERE for his player page.

SCOUTING THE BRONCS
Rider is paced on offense by the trio of sophomore Joe Simone (.360, 13 XBH, 14 RBI, 7 SB), Jake Bender (.304, 8 XBH, 18 R, 14 RBI, 7 SB) and Riley Mihalik (.303, 9 doubles, 4 HR, 22 RBI).

REMATCH OF SORTS
Rider knocked Manhattan out of last year's MAAC Championship with a 4-3 victory, despite three hits and two RBI from Bisset and two hits each from senior Michael Pfenninger and Valls. John Yocum was outstanding with eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings of action.

AGAINST RIDER ...
Bisset is hitting .483 (14-of-29) with five doubles, five RBI and four runs over his career against the Broncs while Pfenninger is batting .455 (10-of-22), including a team-leading .538 over four games a year ago, with four RBI, three runs and four extra-base hits.

EVEN STEVEN
Over the last four years, the teams have split their 10 meetings with Manhattan winning last year's three-game series in Lawrenceville.

BARRELLA, TROCHIANO REPEAT
Barrella garnered MAAC Player of the Week accolades for the second-straight week while Trochiano also repeated in claiming his third weekly rookie citation in helping Manhattan open league play with a three-game sweep of Saint Peter's.
- Trochiano continued his torrid start to the season, hitting .444 (8-of-18) in helping the Jaspers to a perfect week.
- Barrella hit .562 (9-of-16) with four runs, a triple, nine RBI, two stolen bases and a walk while reaching base safely at least twice in all four games.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
Manhattan swept the weekly MAAC awards with Barrella (Player), Stuart (Pitcher) and Trochiano (Rookie) taking home top honors on March 20 after the Jaspers won three-of-four, including a pair of games at La Salle and Villanova.
- Barrella batted .571 (8-of-14) with a double, four runs, four walks, a HBP and two stolen bases while hitting safely in all four games en route to posting a .643 slugging percentage and a .684 OBP.
- Stuart notched saves in all three Manhattan wins last week, striking out four while yielding just one hit and one walk over 5.0 scoreless frames while limiting opposing hitters to a .063 average.
- Trochiano earned his second MAAC Rookie of the Week honor after hitting safely in all four games en route to batting .316 (6-of-19) with five runs, two doubles, two RBI and one stolen base.

PENA NAMED MAAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Pena hit a blistering .438 (7-for-16) with two doubles, two home runs, seven runs, eight RBI and two walks over four games last week while slugging at a .938 clip en route to being named MAAC Player of the Week on March 13.
- After singling against Stony Brook, Pena went 3-for-4 in the opener at UNC Asheville with two home runs, five runs and five RBI while reaching base safely five times.
- Pena capped the doubleheader sweep with two more hits, three RBI and a run in the nightcap.
- The Miami native put the finishing touches on his big performance with a double and a run in the finale.

TROCHIANO CLAIMS FIRST MAAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONOR
The Garden State native hit .385 (5-of-13) at CSUN with a home run, two runs and three RBI while reaching base a .429 clip.

PENA NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH WATCH LIST
Pena has been named to the official watch list for the 2018 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com as announced by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. 

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 .328 (181-of-551) with 56 doubles, 17 home runs and 115 RBI while starting all 144 Manhattan games during his time in Riverdale.

PENA PROFILED BY THE RIVERDALE PRESS
Pena was highlighted in the local paper in an article entitled 'Pena Looking To Be MLB's Next Big Hit ... Click HERE for the entire article.

JACQUES LAUDED
Jacques was tabbed as the No. 10 prospect in the MAAC by BA and No. 11 by D1.Baseball.Com.

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

FROM THE BRONX TO THE PROS
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 at the home of the Short-A Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay Rays).
 
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.

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.

UP NEXT
Manhattan will host Hofstra on Tuesday, April 24 at 5:00 pm.