NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 27, 2003) - The Manhattan College baseball team split a MAAC doubleheader with the Iona Gaels this afternoon at J.B. Buono Field. The Gaels rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 10-7 victory in the first game, but freshman
Chris Cody (Brewster, NY) pitched masterfully in the second game to lead the Jaspers to a 3-1 win. Manhattan is now 19-17 overall and 10-5 in the MAAC, while Iona moves to 12-19 overall and 8-8 in the MAAC.
In the first game,
John Fitzpatrick (Yonkers, NY) got the Jaspers on the board in the top of the first with an RBI-groundout. But the Gaels tied it up in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-single by Rob Fortner. The Jaspers grabbed the lead back in the top of the second on an RBI-single by
Frank Cappello (Pelham, NY). Manhattan extended its lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth on a solo homerun by
Chris Gaskin (Rego Park, NY), his second of the season.
Manhattan put together a two-out rally in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs on three hits and two Gael errors. Fitzpatrick and
Gary Diaz (Naugatuck, CT) lined back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Fitzpatrick came in to score thanks to an error by pitcher Rob Vaughn. Then
Eric Fierro (Levittown, NY) singled in Diaz to extend the lead to 5-1. After Vaughn gave up back-to-back walks to Gaskin and
John Maser (Queens, NY), Sean Kramer came in in relief. With the bases loaded, Cappello reached on an error by the third baseman which plated Fierro for the sixth Jasper run of the game.
The Gaels then rallied for two runs in each of the next two innings to cut the deficit to 6-5. With two outs in the seventh, Gaskin stepped in and clubbed his second homerun of the game, a solo shot, to make it 7-5.
Then in the bottom of the eighth, the Gaels sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs on five basehits to assume a 10-7 lead. Relief pitcher
Alex Narus (Wolcott, CT) got Jason Motte to fly out and struck out Ryan Bucci before the Gaels strung together four straight singles which led to two runs and a tie ballgame. With the bases loaded, Narus was lifted for Cody who gave up a two-run single by Fortner to make it 9-7. Cody then uncorked a wild pitch which allowed Travis Garcia to score the Gaels' 10th run. Cody finally retired the Gaels by striking out Mike Perrone.
In the Jasper ninth,
Matt Cucurullo (Valhalla, NY) singled through the right side to lead off the inning, but was stranded at first as Fitzpatrick and Fierro flied out and Diaz struck out. Sophomore starter
Mike Parisi (Lake Grove, NY) pitched well, working six innings and allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Narus (1-2) was charged with the loss.
In the second game, Cody pitched a complete game, allowing one unearned run on just three hits with five strikeouts. He is now 4-1 on the season. Cucurullo delivered the big hit in the fourth inning with a two-run homer which extended his hitting streak to 18 straight games. Diaz also drove in a run on a groundout to short to cap the scoring for the Jaspers. The Gaels scored their only run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-groundout by Robert Michitsch.
The Jaspers and Gaels play the rubber game of their three-game series tomorrow at 3:30 PM.
