Staten Island, N.Y. (March 29, 2006)- Manhattan tallied four fifth inning runs to open up a close game on the way to a 7-2 win over St. Francis, N.Y. this afternoon at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, the home of the Staten Island Yankees. The Jaspers' three-through-five hitters combined to go 5-12, with a homer, two doubles, four runs scored and six RBI.
Manhattan got on the board first, taking advantage of a Terrier error to score in the top of the second, but St. Francis answered with an RBI single in the fourth to tie the score at 1-1, setting up the Jaspers' big inning.
Back-to back singles by
Dom Lombardi and
Nick Derba, the Jaspers' 1-2 hitters, set the the table for the meat of the Manhattan lineup. Rizzotti chased both runners home with a double before moving to third on a
Mike Garcia single.
John Fitzpatrick then doubled home Rizzotti and Garcia to make the score 5-1 Manhattan.
St. Francis was able to score a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Jaspers put the game away with two runs in the ninth, as Garcia cemented the win with a two-run homer.
Rene Guerra picked up his second win of the season, allowing one earned run over five innings. The Manhattan bullpen shut down the Terrier offense from that point on, as four relievers,
Brian Searls, Joe Culen,
Jeremy Shaw, and
Matt Nevins, allowed just three hits over the final four innings, while recording 10 of their 12 outs via the strikeout. All told, the Jasper pitching staff tallied 13 strikeouts while not issuing a walk.
