Lynchburg, Va. (March 4, 2007)- Manhattan and Liberty were tied at 6-6 in the eighth inning, but the Jasper bullpen allowed eight runs in the bottom of the frame as the Flames won the rubber game of the three-game series, 14-6, this afternoon at Worthington Stadium.
The Jaspers came out aggressively, scoring a run in the top of the first. Kevin Nieto reached on an error, and promptly stole second. A Matt Rizzotti infield single scored Nieto to third one batter later.
Liberty would respond with two runs in the bottom of the second before Manhattan drew even with a single run in the third. Kevin Nieto was again prominently involved, as he connected on a leadoff double, and came around to score on a Dom Lombardi single.
The Flames would retake the lead in the bottom of the third with a single run.
In the top of the sixth, Nick Derba led off the inning with a single, and, one out later, Marc Giordano would double, putting runners on second and third. One out later, Rene Ruiz would double to center, plating Derba and Giordano and giving Manhattan a 4-3 lead.
The Jaspers would extend their lead to 5-3 in the seventh. Mike Garcia walked with one out and stole second. Derba and Rizzotti each drew walks to load the bases before Dom Lombardi would hit into an RBI fielder's choice to score Garcia.
In the bottom of the frame, Liberty would score three runs on three hits to regain the lead once more, taking a 6-5 lead into the top of the eighth.
In what would become the decisive frame, Ryan Masters led off the inning with a single, before moving to second on a Ruiz sacrifice bunt. An Eric Nieto single would advance him to third, and Masters would score on a Kevin Nieto sacrifice fly to tie the score at 6-6.
In the bottom of the inning, the Jasper bullpen retired the first two batters, but the Flame offense would explode for eight runs on six hits with the two most damaging hits being a bases clearing triple and a three run homer.
Four Jaspers tallied multi hit days, as Eric Nieto went 2-5, Kevin Nieto went 2-4 with two runs and two RBI, Garcia went 2-4 with a run, and Derba went 2-4 with a run. Ruiz ended his day 1-3 with two RBI.
Manhattan gets back in action on Wednesday, March 7, traveling across the boro to take on Bronx rival Fordham with the first pitch slated for 3:00 p.m.
