Box Score (GM 1) | Box Score (GM 2)
Wappingers Falls, NY - Manhattan took both ends of a doubleheader from Siena by scores of 8-4 and 2-1.
The Jaspers have now won six-straight MAAC games in moving to 13-21 and 6-2 in the MAAC while the Saints fall 9-21 and 4-7 in the league.
Game One
Manhattan battled batted back from an early two-run deficit to defeat Siena by an 8-4 count in the opener.
The Saints scored the game's first run on an unusual play in the top of the second. With one out and Zach Durfee on second base, Craig Corliss hit a routine grounder to Cerda, who got the second out. On the play, Durfee was on the move and proceeded to go to third and beat the throw to the bag. However, on the play home plate was left vacated and Durfee was able to score.
Siena added to the lead in the fourth when Tim Carroll plated Corliss with an infield single.
In the bottom part of the frame, the Jaspers tied the game up at 2-2. Sophomore
Matt Padre (Flemington, NJ / Hunterdont Central) reached on a dropped fly ball and moved to third on a
David Moffett (Fr., Oneida, NY / Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Senior) single. Padre then scored on a double-play grounder, before sophomore
Jake Knop (Portland, ME / Portland) doubled and freshman
Jonathan Barditch (Miami, FL / Belen Jesuit Prep) delivered a game-tying, RBI single through the left side.
Manhattan then took control of the game in their next trip to the plate as Blake led off with a walk, before coming around to score on freshman
Nick Cimillo's (Airmont, NY / Suffern) team-leading sixth home a run. The Jaspers would add one more run in the frame as Padre scored on a Knop sacrifice fly to extend the lead out to 5-2.
Graduate student LHP
John Cain (Middletown, NY / Lafayette) kept the momentum rolling in the top of the sixth, striking out the side, before exiting after seven solid innings.
The Jaspers plated two more runs in the bottom of the seventh as Knop plated pinch-runner graduate student
Cam Crabbe (White Plains, NY / USF) with a RBI single, before freshman
Keury Abreu (Bronx, NY / St. Raymond) swiped home as the result of a successful double steal.
After Siena scored a run in the eighth, pinch-hitter
Dominic Palma (Hilton, NY / Hilton) chased home Cimillo with a RBI double to extend the lead out to 8-3.
The Saints got one run back in the ninth, but nothing more as senior RHP
Joe DiTorrice (Montgomery, NJ / Montgomery) worked the final two frames to close out the victory.
Cain and DiTorrice combined to limit the visitors to a paltry .071 average (1-for-14) with runners in scoring position.
Knop finished up 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run while Cerda, Cimillo and Moffett all collected two hits to pace a 12-hit offense.
Cain improved to 4-3, striking out seven while yielding two runs on seven hits and three walks over 7.0 innings.
Alex Milone was 3-for-4 to pace an eight-hit Siena attack.
Game Two
Manhattan completed the doubleheader sweep with a 2-1 win in the nightcap as Franco delivered a walk-off, RBI single to make of a winner of junior RHP
T.J. Stuart (Milford, CT / Joseph A. Foran).
Stuart improved to 4-3 on the year with his fourth-straight complete game, finishing up with six strikeouts over 7.0 dominating innings of three-hit ball. The Nutmeg State native also yielded just one walk while holding the Saints hitless (0-for-7) with runners in scoring position.
After Brendan Conley tied the game up at 1-1 in the top of the seventh with a one-out home run, the Jaspers used a one-out rally of their own to walk off the visitors in the bottom part of the frame.
In the decisive frame, Knop rapped his fourth hit of the day, a one-out laser through the left side, before Barditch singled through the right side. Franco followed with his first career walk-off hit to plate Knop with the game-winning score.
The Jaspers notched the first run of the game in the first inning thanks to a pair of singles and some timely hitting. Franco led off with a two-strike single, before moving to third on a two-out, one-out single from Cimillo. Palma then drove in Franco with a sacrifice fly to right field to open the scoring.
Siena threatened to tie the game in each of the next two innings, placing a runner in scoring position with less than two outs, only to be denied each time by Stuart.
The visitors again had something cooking in the fifth inning, putting runners on first-and-second with one out, only to again come up short when Stuart induced a soft liner to Blake.
Cimillo and Franco each had two of the six hits in the game for Manhattan to pace the Jaspers on offense.
RHP Brendan White struck out nine while yielding two runs on six hits over 6.1 innings in a complete game effort.
Up Next
* The teams will conclude their series on Sunday, April 14 at 12:00 pm.
