Manhattanville Bats Erupt in Win over Wilkes Baseball
KINGSTON, PA – The Wilkes University baseball team ran into a buzz saw as Manhattanville put up 33 runs on 32 hits in a 33-8 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) game at Artillery Park on Sunday afternoon.
The loss drops the Colonels to 10-14 overall and 5-7 in the MAC Freedom.
The Valiants started the game with a three-run first inning as an RBI single, wild pitch and RBI double, all with one out, plated three for the visitors. The Colonels had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom half of the opening frame but were unable to bring them home as they trailed 3-0 after the first inning of play.
Manhattanville started the second with a leadoff single that was followed by a blast over the left field fence to make it 5-0 and chase the Wilkes starter. Another double off the left field fence scored two more as it was 7-0 after an inning and a half.
Wilkes responded with a pair of singles to start the inning but were only able to plate one on a bases load walk by Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) as Manhattanville led 7-1 heading to the third.
The Valiants busted things open in the third, starting with another two-run home run to left field by the nine-hole hitter Stephen Merrill. A free pass with the bases full followed by a two-run single made it 12-1 after the top of the third inning.
The Colonels continued to fight back as Matt Reinert (Telford, PA/Souderton) hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded to plate Nicholas Capozzi (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy). Nick Malatesta (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) added an RBI single up the middle and Brady Wing (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) recorded an RBI groundout to send it to the fourth trailing 12-4.
Manhattanville would not let up though as it batted around for the second consecutive inning, scoring nine times with two outs in the fourth, to balloon the margin to 21-4.
Wilkes competed to the end as they added one run each in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, however this was Manhattanville's day from start to finish as they ended the game with 11 runs over the final three innings to take the rubber game of this three-game series 33-8.
The Colonels had a good day at the plate in their own right as they registered 17 hits on the day. Brandon Reno (Hunlock Creek, PA/Northwest Area), Capozzi, Jonah Harder (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Jack Hines (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne) and Wing all had two hits apiece for the navy and gold.
Gage Coudriet (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) took the loss and falls to 2-2 on the season.
Wilkes returns to Artillery Park on Tuesday, April 9th when it hosts Immaculata for a non-conference game at 3:30 p.m.
