Jamaica, NY (May 17, 2005)- Manhattan fought back to almost erase an 8-1 deficit, but ended up on the wrong end of a 13-5 decision to #25 St. John's tonight at The Ballpark at St. John's. Manhattan falls to 25-18 on the season. Senior co-captain
Phil Kuhner blasted his first collegiate home run, and sophomore co-captain
Nick Derba became the 23rd member of the Manhattan 100 hit club with a single leading off the ninth inning.
The Jaspers scored the game's first run as Derba was hit by a pitch with two outs before
Matt Rizzotti plated him with a double to right center.
The Red Storm responded with six runs in the first and a single run in the second to take a 7-1 lead and chase Manhattan starter
Matt Nevins.
Kyle Wirtz relieved Nevins and shut down the St. John's bats, allowing just one run on three hits over a season-high 5.0 innings, keeping Manhattan in the game.
Manhattan responded to Wirtz's strong effort, coming alive with three runs in the fifth.
Sly Gutierrez led off the inning with a walk before Kuhner followed with a no-doubt shot over the left field fence to make the score 8-3. One out later,
Gary Diaz singled and came around to score on a Rizzotti RBI single.
The Jaspers would pull to within three, 8-5, when
John Maser would single with one out and race around to score on a double to left from Diaz.
The Jaspers looked to make more noise in the top of the eighth, as Gutierrez reached on an error with two outs, and Kuhner singled through the right side to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. St. John's then brought in their closer to try and stymie the Manhattan rally. Maser worked a walk to load the bases, but the Jaspers did not put up any more runs.
The Red Storm scored five insurance runs in the top of the ninth to provide the final margin.
Manhattan will return to the diamond when the Jasper travel to Fairfield, CT to close out the regular season with a three game MAAC set at Fairfield. The Jaspers and Stags will play a doubleheader on Friday at 1:00 p.m. before playing a single game on Saturday at 12 noon.
