Teaneck, NJ - Manhattan crushed four home runs en route to posting a decisive 12-2 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in non-conference action at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.
The Jaspers also rapped out 15 hits in moving to 21-28, while the Knights fall to 15-31-1.
Senior RHP Jacob Knight (Oakley, CA / Chabot CC) improved to 3-2 on the year, striking out a career-high eight while yielding one run on four hits over 6.0 solid frames.
Manhattan took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when graduate student Shawn Blake (Stratford, CT / Elon) delivered a solo home run deep over the right field fence.
FDU would tie the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second, before the Jasper bats were back at it in the fifth.
Freshman Nick Cimillo (Airmont, NY / Suffern) broke the deadlock with a two-out, two-run single through the left side in plating graduate student Cam Crabbe (White Plains, NY / USF) and freshman Jonathan Barditch (Miami, FL / Belen Jesuit Prep).
Manhattan added to the lead with three more runs in the top of the sixth. Junior Alex Cerda (Miami, FL / Florida Christian School) led off with a single, before advancing to second on a balk and scoring on sophomore Jake Knop's (Portland, ME / Portland) RBI double. Crabbe followed with a two-run homer to right field in extending the advantage out to 6-1.
The Knights threatened in the bottom part of the frame, placing runners on second-and-third with one out, only to be denied by Knight.
In the top of the seventh, the Manhattan bats erupted for three more runs as Cerda plated a run with a RBI double, before sophomore Matt Padre (Flemington, NJ / Hunterdon Central) crushed a three-run shot to left center.
Freshman David Moffett (Oneida, NY / Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Senior) capped the scoring with a two-run blast in the eighth, extending the lead out to 12-1.
The Knights got one run back in the ninth, but nothing else as the Jaspers won for the sixth time in eight games.
Blake went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and four runs to lead the way on offense, while Cerda, Cimillo, Crabbe, Knop and Padre all registered two hits on the day.
Senior RHP Matt Jones (Haddonfield, NJ / Haddonfield Memorial) fired 2.0 hitless innings and junior RHP Alexis Calderon (Bethlehem, PA / Liberty) worked the ninth to round out the top performers for the visitors.
Manhattan will next host Saint Peter's at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex in Teaneck, NJ on Saturday, May 11 at 12:00 pm.