Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After a rain out on Saturday, the Manhattan baseball team (7-4) returned to the diamond on Sunday falling 14-4 to West Virginia (5-9) at Hawley Field in Morgantown, W. Va. Mountaineers' shortstop Jedd Gyorko led the way with two home runs and three RBI as the Jaspers' six game win streak was snapped. Manhattan junior third baseman Chad Salem also had a home run in a perfect 5-for-5 performance at the plate.
West Virginia posted four runs in the first inning and never trailed in the contest. Gyorko, the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, led off the game with blast over the left field wall against Jaspers' freshman starting pitcher Eric Luksis. Luksis lasted three innings allowing seven earned runs, along with one strikeout.
The Jaspers battled back with two runs in the second inning and one more in the third to pull within 4-3. Junior first baseman Austin Sheffield doubled in Salem for the Jaspers first score, and then he delivered the second run crossing the plate on a wild pitch. Salem sent a home run out of left field in the third inning to make it a one run ballgame.
The Mountaineers extended its lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the third when designated hitter Kevin Griffin singled in third baseman Grant Buckner. Manhattan responded in the top of the fourth with another run to pull within one again. Freshman shortstop Nick Camastro advanced Anthony Armenio to third base on a single into left field. Armenio then scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of senior outfielder Kevin Nieto.
Camastro went 2-for-3 from the plate in the ballgame.
West Virginia opened its lead in the fourth inning tallying six runs on four hits and one error. The surge featured a RBI doubles from Gyorko, Dom Hayes and Buckner. The Mountaineers added two more in the sixth and used a lead off homer in the seventh by Gyorko to hold off Manhattan.
Mountaineers' sophomore lefty Chad Pickering earned his first win of the year tossing six innings with five strikeouts. Jaspers' freshman Mike Gonzalez was a bright spot out of the bullpen pitching a scoreless eighth inning sitting down all three batters faced, including a strikeout.
Manhattan returns to action on Wednesday to face its second BIG EAST opponent of the season when the Jaspers travel to Seton Hall. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in South Orange, N.J.
