Riverdale, N.Y. (May 14, 2006)- John Fitzpatrick continued his torrid pace of late, going 3-4 with three RBI as Manhattan completed the MAAC series sweep of Saint Peter's, taking a 9-3 decision this afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park. With the win, their sixth straight, the Jaspers improve to 27-20, 15-8 in MAAC play.
The Peacocks (10-38, 3-20 MAAC) took the early lead, scratching out an unearned run in the top of the first.
Manhattan would even the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the third, as Eric Nieto singled to lead off the inning, and went first to third on a perfectly executed hit and run by Nick Derba, who put the ball in the hole between second and first to put runners on the corners with no outs. Mike Garcia followed with a sacrifice fly to left to score Nieto.
The Jaspers would take a 2-1 lead in the fifth, rallying with two outs. Garcia connected on a two-out double to right center, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a fielding error by Saint Peter's.
The Peacocks would not go quietly, loading the bases with one out in the seventh off of reliever Mike Gazzola. Matt Nevins would replace Gazzola at that point, and induced a grounder to his first batter, but the Jaspers came up just short in attempting to turn the double play, allowing one run to score, but Nevins got a groundout on the ensuing batter to end the threat and the inning.
That seemed to jolt the Manhattan lineup, as Derba walked to lead off the inning and Garcia doubled down the left field line to put runners on second and third with none out. Saint Peter's elected to walk Matt Rizzotti intentionally to face the red hot Fitzpatrick, but the strategy backfired as Fitzpatrick was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Dom Lombardi hit a hard grounder to first in the ensuing at bat, which was booted by the first baseman, allowing two runs to score. Rene Ruiz and Nunzio Franzese would each tally RBI groundouts as Manhattan would score five runs on just one hit to open up a 7-2 lead.
Saint Peter's would manufacture a single run in the eighth, before the Jaspers would put the game away with a two run eighth, as Fitzpatrick provided key insurance with a two run double off the left field wall.
Jesse Darcy started the game for Manhattan, allowing one unearned run on four hits over six innings of work, adding seven strikeouts. Nevins earned the win, working the final 2.2 innings.
Manhattan will close out its home schedule on Tuesday, May 16, hosting Wagner at 3:30 p.m. at Van Cortlandt Park.