Wappingers Falls, NY - Manhattan plated five runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to capping a series sweep of Iona with a 7-4 win in the series finale between the teams at Dutchess Stadium.
The Jaspers improve to 11-19 and 4-2 in the MAAC with their first sweep of the year while the Gaels fall to 6-24 and 1-5 in the league.
Manhattan picked up where it left off yesterday with five runs in its first trip to the plate, thanks to five hits and one big error. Graduate student Shawn Blake (Stratford, CT / Elon) and freshman Nick Cimillo (Airmont, NY / Suffern) got things started with one-out singles, before Blake scored on a throwing error. Junior Alex Cerda (Miami, FL / Florida Christian School) followed with a two-run double to plate Cimillo and junior Dominic Palma (Hilton, NY / Hilton). Sophomore Matt Padre (Flemington, NJ / Hunterdon Central) then traded places with Cerda on the bases, delivering a ground rule RBI double to stretch the advantage out to 4-0. Freshman Jake Knop (Portland, ME / Portland) capped the five-run frame with a RBI single through the left side, scoring Padre.
Iona got three runs back in the top of the second in trimming the deficit to 5-3.
Blake answered in the bottom part of the frame with a two-out, solo home run to right field in pushing the lead out to 6-3.
Manhattan extended its advantage out to 7-3 with a run in the bottom of the fourth, as freshman David Moffett (Oneida, NY / Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Senior) delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to right field on the first pitch he saw from reliever RHP James Sharkey.
After yielding three runs in the second, senior Ryan Takacs (Jackson, NJ / Jackson Memorial) hunkered down and didn't allow a runner to cross the plate over the next three frames, departing after firing 5.0 solid innings. The towering righty yielded just one earned run on six hits with two strikeouts.
Senior RHP Joe DiTorrice (Montgomery, NJ / Montgomery) relieved Takacs and surrendered just one hit over the next 3.0 innings.
The Gaels would get one back in the ninth, before sophomore RHP Teddy Sabato (Rye, NY / UNC) closed out Takacs' first win of the year while earning his first career save with a strikeout to cap the sweep.
Sabato slams the ?? with the strikeout to close out Manhattan's sweep of Iona by a 7-4 count!#JasperNation pic.twitter.com/kB2E7JgpIY
— Manhattan Baseball (@JaspersBaseball) April 7, 2019
Nine different Jaspers hit safely, led by Blake, who finished up 3-for-3 with his second home run in as many games, two runs and two walks.
Daniel Palermo had two of Iona's eight hits to lead the way for the visitors.
Manhattan returns to action with a doubleheader at Army West Point on Wednesday, April 10 with first pitch tabbed for 3:00 pm.