PONCE, PR – The Manhattan Jaspers Baseball team (0-3) narrowly fell to the Cougars of the University of Houston (3-0) inside Estadio Francisco Montaner on Sunday morning to conclude its participation in the eight-team PR Baseball Challenge.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Jaspers started rather quickly against one of the more prominent XII (Big 12) teams in the respective conference, the Houston Cougars, with a bloop single into left by Vincent Samuel to post the game's first run on the board, driving home Jeremy Sosa from second.
- In the home half of the fifth inning, relief pitcher Jackson Klein was able to get in and out of trouble with a runner in scoring position on second base, by striking out the next two batters, both swinging, for an emphatic ending to the inning, trailing by just one run.
- Playing from behind were the Jaspers for the next five innings, before Colin Basehore opened the seventh inning with a double down the right field line. Two batters later, it was Ryan Lordier who knocked a comebacker to the pitcher to advance Basehore just 90 feet away from providing the tying run.
- Then, it was Hunter Sute who found some space in right field to bring home Basehore to knot the game at two.
- Down the stretch, the Jaspers got into a bit of trouble with a runner on third, before Houston hit the eventual go-ahead base hit into center field to drive home the runner.
- Manhattan attempted a comeback in the top of the ninth with Basehore swinging at the first pitch to send a base hit into center field, but it was ultimately not enough.
STATS AND NOTES
- Hunter Sute provided the tying base hit into right center to finish his day 2-for-4 from the plate with the aforementioned RBI.
- Colin Basehore also went 2-for-4 on the day with a double and crossed the plate once.
- Vincent Samuel continued his powerful weekend in Puerto Rico with an RBI in a 1-for-3 day, which also included one walk.
- In relief, Jackson Klein replaced starter Matthew Steinberg for his first appearance of the 2026 campaign, fanning five in 13 batters faced.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
Head Coach Steven Rosen: "Proud of the guys' efforts today after handling a lot of tough adversity over the last few days. We had a quick few hours of sleep before we had to be right back at the stadium first thing, and the boys responded with high-level energy and process. Have a lot of work to do, and it starts with practice this week, but we're excited to get back on the field Tuesday and keep getting better."
"I want to thank everybody involved with the Puerto Rico baseball challenge for having us out and for all their hard work. We couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to compete on this stage."
NEXT UP
The Jaspers return to the mainland on Wednesday, February 18, for a single game against the Monarchs of Old Dominion University for a 2 p.m. first pitch inside Ellmer Family Baseball Complex in Norfolk. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
