RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College baseball team held tight with #10 Miami (4-0) over the first six innings before the Hurricanes created separation scoring the final four runs en route to 7-3 victory at Alex Rodriguez Park in Coral Gables, Fla. Jaspers' freshman Kyle Murphy and junior Chad Salem each blasted solo home runs in Manhattan's (0-1) highly anticipated season opener.
Manhattan used a solid effort from sophomore starter Mike Giordano who battled through four innings on the hill and yielded just three runs to the high octane Hurricane offense. Giordano went head-to-head with Miami starter Eric Erickson who also gave up three runs over six innings of work.
Murphy and Salem launched their solo shots in back-to-back innings to quickly erase the Jaspers two run deficit. Murphy took Erickson deep to left field in his first collegiate at bat in the third inning to get the Jaspers on the scoreboard. Murphy finished his debut going 2-3 from the plate.
Salem made noise in the fourth inning when he launched a bomb over the center field wall to tie the contest at 2-2. It was the local product from Rye, N.Y. 19th career home run.
Miami junior outfielder Chris Pelaez responded with a homer of his own in the fourth inning. Pelaez led off the inning with a shot over the right field wall to regain a 3-2 edge.
The Jaspers turned to freshman lefty Eric Luksis in the fifth who made his debut out of the bullpen. Luksis navigated out of a tough jam with bases loaded and one out. The Wappingers Falls, N.Y. native was able to strikeout Ryan Perry and get Michael Broad to pop out to second base to end the inning.
Manhattan junior first baseman Austin Sheffield drove in the game tying run in the sixth inning with a single through the right side scoring Mike McCann. The RBI locked the game at 3-3. Sheffield went 2-for-4 in the ballgame.
Luksis tossed a scoreless sixth inning, before the Hurricanes got to the rookie. Miami used a single up the middle by Broad for the go ahead run and tacked on one more to carry a 5-3 advantage. Broad finished the night going 2-3 with two RBI's.
Miami added two more runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach. The runs came courtesy of a RBI double from Harold Martinez and a RBI triple from Zeke DeVoss.
Luksis was credit with the loss, while Hurricanes lefty reliever Iden Nazario earned the win.
The Jaspers will look to bounce back on Saturday versus #10 Miami for the second contest of the three game set. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. at Alex Rodriguez Park.