May 05, 2010
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Manhattan College jumped out to a 9-3 lead after three innings of play en route to a 13-7 win over NYIT this afternoon in non-conference baseball action. NYIT brothers Brian and Jerry Smith led the Bears offense, collecting two hits apece. The loss drops NYIT to 19-18-2 on the season while Manhattan won it's 11th straight game to improve to 25-17.
Manhattan freshman starting pitcher John Soldinger struck out the side in the first inning, setting the stage for his one hit effort to earn his fourth win of the year. The Jaspers gave Soldinger immediate run support tacking on four runs in the first inning. MAAC batting leader Mark Onorati led off the ballgame with his team leading 15th double of the season. Two batters later the hot hitting Mike McCann doubled to right field to send Onorati across the plate. Armenio capped the Jaspers' scoring with a two run homer deep to right field.
The Bears generated two runs on a hit and two errors in the third inning to cut Manhattan's lead to 4-2. NYIT third baseman Effrey Valdez drove in the first run and shortstop Ali Rodriguez scored the second run on a botched double play attempt.
Manhattan broke open the game in the bottom of the third inning putting five more runs on the board beginning with McCann's RBI triple. Sheffield and Armenio followed with back-to-back home runs. Freshman shortstop Nick Camastro extended Manhattan's lead to 9-2 with a RBI single.
Nieto posted the Jaspers' 10th run in the fourth inning with his heads up base running as he scored from third base on a pass ball.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Mike Giordano relieved Soldinger in the fifth inning as part of a prearranged format. NYIT junior Jerry Smith took advantage of Giordano's one mistake as he jumped on a pitch in the sixth inning sending it out of left field. The two-run shot cut the Jaspers' lead to 10-4.
Red-shirt freshman catcher Ramon Ortega added a two-out RBI double in the seventh. And then in the eighth inning, Nieto notched a two-run homer marking his fifth of the season to make the score 13-5
Sophomore Ryan Campbell drove in two runs in the top of the ninth with a single for the Bears, providing the final score. NYIT starter Jose Checo was credited with the loss going 2 2/3 innings with nine earned runs.
The Bears return to action tomorrow, hosting Army at 3:30 p.m.