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Norfolk, VA - Kyle Beam's 12th-inning single up the middle lifted Old Dominion to a 6-5 walk-off victory over Manhattan at the Bud Metheny Complex.
The Monarchs improve to a perfect 5-0 while the Jaspers fall to 0-1.
Despite the season-opening defeat, Manhattan looked extremely impressive in its first action of the spring as freshman LHP Tom Cosgrove (Staten Island, NY / Farrell) set the tone early. The Staten Island native limited ODU to just two hits and one unearned run with three strikeouts over 5.0 dominating innings of action.
The Jaspers opened the scoring in the third inning as senior Christian Santisteban (Miami, FL / Gulliver Prep) plated freshman Anthony Rocchietti (Green Brook, NJ / Watchung) with a RBI ground out. Rocchietti had reached on an error before advancing to third on junior Jose Carrera's (Miami, FL / St. Brendan) one-out double.
After Old Dominion tied the game up in the fourth inning, Manhattan reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Brendan Bisset (New City, NY / Don Bosco Prep) delivered a two-out single before moving to second on a wild pitch and would score on a Santisteban RBI single.
In what would prove to be a back-and-forth affair, the Monarchs plated two in the sixth to grab a 3-2 advantage. Manhattan would then rally for two runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run, RBI single from Santisteban that plated Rocchietti and Carrera.
The lead would grow to 5-3 in the eighth as freshman Fabian Pena (Miami, FL / Calusa Prep) led off the frame with a double before coming around to score on a pair of wild pitches.
Unfortunately, the Monarchs tied the game up at 5-5 in the bottom part of the frame and would go on to score the aforementioned winning run in the 12th.
Santisteban, the preseason MAAC Player of the Year, paced a nine-hit attack, going 2-for-5 with four RBI and a walk while Carrera was 2-for-5 with a double, run and walk. Pena also recorded a pair of hits and a walk to pace the Jasper effort.
Manhattan returns to action on Saturday, February 27 against Delaware with first pitch slated for 12:00 pm.
