Score: UAlbany 21, Manhattan 20
Location: Varsity Field in Albany, N.Y.
Records: UAlbany (18-17, 7-11 AE) | Manhattan (17-20, 7-8 MAAC)
Short Story: The University at Albany baseball team defeated the Manhattan Jaspers, 21-20, on Wednesday evening, highlighted by an 11-run second inning. Four different Great Danes hit home runs, including a grand slam by
Will Binder in the second. Binder picked up a team-high six RBIs, followed by
Chris Fisher with four.
John Daly hit the game winning solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win.
Head Coach Jon Mueller: "It was a very windy, windy day, and I thought the difference in today's game was the ability to put up four zeros later in the game. Obviously, the offense was tremendous on a very difficult day to pitch and defend for both teams, but we're moving on to UMass Lowell. Hopefully, this builds some momentum and we look forward to the series this weekend."
Key Stats:
- UAlbany pitchers
- Will Binder led UAlbany's offense with six RBIs. The third baseman went 3-4 with a grand slam, a walk, and three scored runs.
- Chris Fisher finished 3-4, including a double and a triple. He collected four RBIs and crossed home four times.
- Brad Malm and Will Feil both went 2-6 and picked up three RBIs. Feil scored two runs and hit a home run whereas Malm scored one run.
- Matt Soloman picked up two RBIs on a two-run home run. He finished 3-4 with three scored runs.
- John Daly went 2-4 with one RBI and two scored runs. He hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth.
- Carson Dunkel (0-4) drove in the final run for UAlbany while also crossing home plate once.
- Jason Bottari crossed home four times, going 2-4.
- Michael Whalen finished 0-3 but scored one run.
- UAlbany left six runners on base, whereas Manhattan left eight.
- UAlbany recorded eleven walks, Manhattan walked six times.
- Eleven Great Danes struck out, Manhattan struck out ten times.
How it Happened:
- Tomas Quinn started on the mound for the Great Danes, Ohjiro Motoki started for the Jaspers.
- David Bermudez hit a two-run home run in the top of the opening inning to give Manhattan a 2-0 lead.
- UAlbany erased Manhattan's lead in the bottom of the first when Will Feil hit his sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot to left-center. Will Binder crossed home as well after he singled to reach base.
- Will Binder hit a no-out grand slam in the bottom of the second inning, driving in Chris Fisher and Matt Solomon who both walked, and Jason Bottari who singled to get on base.
- Mason Vaughan took the mound for the Jaspers halfway through the second.
- The Great Danes added seven more runs in the same inning. Feil singled to center field, scoring Brad Malm who previously singled, Carson Dunkel drew a bases-loaded walk to score Michael Whalen, Feil crossed home as Bottari reached on an error, Fisher hit a three-RBI triple to left-center, bringing home John Daly, Dunkel and Bottari, and finally, Fisher scored himself on a sac fly by Binder.
- Steven Turk replaced Quinn at the beginning of the third.
- Manhattan got six runs back in the top of the third. Jack Lynch hit a two-run home run to right-center, Dolan Ocasal hit an RBI single to left field, Matt Padre was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Harrison Treble followed with a two-run single to center field, making it 8-13.
- Kyle McCaffrey came in to pitch for UAlbany halfway through the third.
- Still, in the top of the third, Manhattan made it a two-run game as Bermudez doubled down the left field line to score Treble and Padre and Lynch hit an RBI double, scoring Bermudez.
- The Jaspers took an 18-13 lead in the top of the fourth. Jacob Radziewicz and Padre scored on a throwing error to tie the game, both Pete Durocher and Lynch hit one-RBI doubles, David Moffett drove in a run with an RBI single and Frankie Marinelli first doubled down the left field line, scoring Moffett and then crossed home himself on an error.
- In the bottom of the fourth, the Great Danes got two runs back to make it a three-run game. A single to right-center by Binder brought home Fisher and Malm picked up an RBI with a groundout to short, scoring Binder.
- Rob Manetta entered the game for the Great Danes to start the fifth.
- The Jaspers added two more runs in the top of the fifth. Padre scored on a wild pitch and Lynch drove in Treble off an RBI double
- Ryan Doherty replaced Vaughan on the mound to start the bottom of the fifth.
- The Great Danes made it a two-run game in the sixth. Fisher doubled down the left field line to score Bottari and Malm hit a two-run single through the left field, bringing home Fisher and Soloman.
- Patrick Benn came in to pitch for the Jaspers in the seventh.
- Matt Soloman's first career home run tied the game at 20 in the bottom of the seventh. He also scored Bottari.
- Nicholas Jessen replaced Manetta at the start of the eighth.
- UAlbany took a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth when Daly hit a solo home run to center field.
Next: The Great Danes will play their second straight America East series on the road this coming weekend. First pitch against UMass Lowell is at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep up with all of the latest news, highlights, and insights on UAlbany baseball by following the team on
Twitter and
Instagram and by using the hashtag
#BeGreat.
