Baseball’s Comeback Falls Short against Jaspers

Tuesday, April 12

West Point, NY

3:30 PM

Army West Point

12-21

Manhattan

9-19

Manhattan

Army West Point

Baseball’s Comeback Falls Short against Jaspers

April 12, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point baseball's comeback bid fell short in the final non-conference home game of the season as the Black Knights fell to Manhattan 3-2 on Tuesday at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday field.

"I thought Manhattan came out with a good approach early," said head coach Matt Reid. "It took us a little bit of time to get it going offensively. Our pitching did a good job of keeping us in the game, but we need to play better defense and have our bats ready earlier."

The Jaspers (9-19, 2-4 MAAC) opened the game with a couple of hits, but a couple of big strikeouts by Patrick Gardner got Army (12-21, 3-5 PL) out of the jam unharmed. The senior lefty would need much less of an effort the following inning, using one more than the minimum three pitches in an inning to get back into the dugout.

The Black Knights had each of its second batters reach base through the first two innings as Trey Martin walked in the first while Jacob Page shot a single to left field in the second inning. Neither would come around to score, however, as runs would be at a premium.

Michael Scarinci was dominant throughout his first five innings of work, allowing just two hits in that time while entering the sixth frame retiring eight consecutive Cadets that started with a strikeout/caught stealing double-play. Back-to-back singles by Army would force him out of the game in the following inning.

Manhattan was able to scratch across the first run of the game in the top of the third inning as a single by plated Joe Credendino from second. The Jaspers extended the lead to two runs the following inning that started with a triple to the right centerfield gap by Michael Pfenninger. He would score on a single by Fabian Pena.

The Jasper's third run in as many innings came as a product of a leadoff base hit by Jose Carrera who made a leaping snag at short the previous inning. After a failed pickoff allowed him to reach third, he scored on a wild pitch.

Freshman Mike Gagliardi provided some quality relief after entering the game with one out on the fifth inning. The inherited runner on first base failed to phase the freshman, as he retired all eight batters he faced in his 2.2 innings of work. Fellow freshman Jacob Carte would stretch that streak to 10-consecutive Jaspers before Pfenninger slapped a single through the right side.

Army would provide its response in the sixth inning, plating a couple in the home half of the frame. In what started with a Josh White single off the pitcher Scarinci, Kris Lindner followed by pulling a single through the right side. The freshman second baseman would score the Black Knights' first run of the game on a groundout to short by John McCarthy. The next batter, Jon Rosoff, shot a single through the hole on the left side to plate Lindner from second to cut the deficit to one.

After a couple of one-two-three innings at the plate, the Black Knights got a leadoff walk from McCarthy to start the bottom of the ninth. The sophomore left fielder would come within 90 feet of scoring the game-tying run, but would eventually be stranded there to end the game.

The Black Knights will now begin a 10-game road trip that starts this weekend as they travel to Holy Cross for a Patriot League series that starts on Saturday, April 16, at noon.

For more information on Army West Point baseball, visit GoArmyWestPoint.com and follow @ArmyWP_Baseball on Twitter.

GAME NOTES

USMA Commandant Brig. Gen. Diana Holland was in attendance … game duration was 2:18 … second-fastest nine-inning game this season … completed nine innings against North Dakota State on March 15 in two hours in Clearwater,Fla. … Josh White recorded his 10th multi-hit game of the season … third on the team in that category.