NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Manhattan Jaspers and Columbia Lions went back-and-forth at the plate in Tuesday's offensive battle, but two unanswered innings late in the game proved too costly for the Jaspers, and they fell 10-7 to the Lions in midweek action at Robertson Field.
The Jaspers (7-16, 1-2) will take a day of rest and move on to Metro Atlantic play Thursday at Canisius (6-13, 0-0).
It took just three batters to push the first Jaspers run across the plate, jumpstarted by Frank Marinelli being hit by a pitch. Logan Pfannenbecker shifted the grad student to the corner with a shot through the right side and Drew Wyers placed a sacrifice fly in center for the score. An RBI groundout from Vincent Davis drove Pfannenbecker home and Manhattan shot out to a quick 2-0 lead.
A walk and sly baserunning from the Lions cut the lead in half, but Chase Swain crushed a three-run homer in the top of the third for plenty of cushion. Swain's homer was his first of the season and marked the most RBIs recorded in a game for the sophomore.
Columbia bit back with a two-run homer from Jack Cooper in the bottom half and pinned three more to the board to take a 6-5 lead after five.
Manhattan snatched back control with a series of walks and a pair of base hits from Marinelli and Andreaus Lewis to score two, but an attack from the mound by way of Lion relief Griffin Palfrey and James Vaughn silenced bats for just one hit and no runs through the final three frames.
Palfrey was credited with the win and Vaughn earned the save with their performance. Tyler Babel (0-1) absorbed the loss in four innings of work, allowing five runs on five hits with three strikeouts.
Marinelli, Pfannenbecker, Swain, and Perez each recorded a pair of hits to lead the Jaspers offense. Pfannenbecker notched his sixth multi-hit game of the season and seventh-straight game to record a hit.
First pitch against Canisius is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The three-game series unfolds with a 3 p.m. start on Friday and noon first pitch on Saturday.
