HEMPSTEAD, NY – Manhattan College rode a slugging
Vincent Davis and a quality start by
Noah Mattera to an 8-2 victory in the rubber game of its weekend road series at Hofstra. The win, coupled with Saturday's 17-6 outburst, marked the Jaspers' first back-to-back victories since sweeping Norfolk State from Feb. 24-26.
"I am very happy with this weekend," said head coach
Dave Miller. "
Noah Mattera gave us an excellent start and the bats have come alive the last two days. We need to keep the momentum rolling into conference play."
Davis (2-for-4, 4 RBI) and Mattera (6.0 innings, 2 earned runs) lifted Manhattan (6-12) to its second series win of the season, while Hofstra fell to 6-11 with the loss.
Davis padded the Jaspers' lead with a three-run home run in the top of the third inning, increasing Manhattan's edge to 5-1. He later added an RBI single in the fifth. The freshman homered for the second consecutive game giving him a team-leading three on the season and finished the weekend with a .500 batting average (5-for-10) with eight runs batted in and five runs scored in the three-game series at University Field.
Meanwhile, Mattera – the UNLV transfer and first-year Jasper – twirled his fourth consecutive start with at least 5.0 innings and two or fewer earned runs. Mattera (3-1) minimized the damage in the first inning and exited after six innings, striking out three and allowing seven hits to pick up the victory.
Mattera opened the Sunday matinee by allowing the first three Hofstra batters to reach base. However, he set the tone for the day by only giving up one run on a sacrifice fly and closed the frame with a strikeout.
Manhattan immediately tied the game in the top of the second inning. Davis led off for a walk and came around to score following consecutive singles by
Kai Hutchins and
Dylan Mayer. The Jaspers then took a 2-1 lead on a
Daniel Perez RBI sacrifice fly, scoring Hutchins.
After Hofstra squandered an opportunity in the bottom of the second with Mattera inducing an inning-ending double play with two men on, Davis delivered the blow in the third. The Jaspers' top two hitters in the lineup –
Frankie Marinelli and
Logan Pfannenbecker – set the table with consecutive singles to lead off the inning before Davis brought all of them home with his blast to straightaway center field.
The Jaspers would score one run each in the fifth and sixth innings courtesy of Davis' RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Marinelli to increase their lead to 7-1.
Hofstra added a run in the bottom of the sixth before Manhattan closed out the scoring in the top of the ninth with Pfannenbecker scoring his third run of the game on an RBI groundout by
Trevor Hansen.
Along with Davis, Mayer also notched two hits. Pfannenbecker, Davis and Hutchings each reached base three times with the trio combining for five runs batted in and five runs scored.
Although Hofstra outhit Manhattan, 9-7, Mattera and
Jack Mahoney combined to strand nine Pride baserunners. Mahoney shut out the Pride over his three innings of relief while striking out four in the process.
Dylan Palmer led Hofstra with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate. Carlos Martinez (1-3) took the loss for the Pride despite striking out eight in 4.2 innings. Martinez allowed six runs on six hits.
