Baseball Splits with Manhattanville on Final Day of Myrtle Beach Trip

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. –  The Rivier baseball team rounded out its trip to the Palmetto State with a non-conference split against Manhattanville on Saturday afternoon at Polo Grounds at The Ripken Experience, with both games going seven innings.

Senior lefthander Nate Bonacorsi pitched six strong innings in a 6-1 win for the Raiders in game one of the twinbill before the Valiants responded with a 9-4 win in the rubber match. Rivier continued its best start to a season, posting a 4-4 record through eight games. Manhattanville moved to 3-1 overall with the results.

The Raiders return to New England for a regional matchup at Wentworth on Thursday, March 13. First pitch from Libby Field is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Rivier 6, Manhattanville 1 (7 inn.)

Rivier struck first in the bottom of the first as junior Nathan Innerfield continued his hot start to the campaign with an RBI single down the left field line, scoring senior Jacob Boudreau.

Manhattanville scored on an error in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-all.

In the top of the fourth, senior lefty Nate Bonacorsi recorded a one-two-three frame, striking out two Valiant batters in that span.

It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth that the Raiders regained their lead, as senior Owen Medlock hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring classmate Luis Tejada.

Innerfield came up big yet again in the bottom of the fifth as he singled up the middle to push Colton Colleran across the plate following a steal of second by the sophomore.

With two outs and runners on the corners in the top of the sixth, Bonacorsi fired a pick-off attempt to first which resulted in the final out of the inning. In the bottom half, first-year Jayce Martinez smashed an RBI ground rule double to right center to make it a 4-1 Rivier advantage. Boudreau followed that up with a single to left, knocking in Martinez. First-year Brady Balint, who walked two batters prior, scored on a passed ball to round out the scoring.

Junior right-handed closer Ty Baker came in to shut down the Valiants in the top of the seventh, striking out two of the four batters he faced.

Bonacorsi went six complete innings, allowing just one run on six hits and a walk while fanning five Valiants.

Boudreau went 3-for-3 with a walk with one RBI and one run scored. Innerfield finished 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Manhattanville 9, Rivier 4 (7 inn.)

Manhattanville started game two with a two-run homer to take a first-inning lead.

Senior Owen Medlock pushed classmate JD Normand over the plate in the top of the second to make it a one-run game. The Valiants scored twice in the bottom half to take a three-run lead.

A four-run fifth inning further separated Manhattanville from Rivier as the Valiants boasted an 8-1 lead before taking on an additional run in the following frame to increase their lead to eight.

The Raiders attempted a late comeback in the seventh as junior Nathan Innerfield came in to pinch hit and knocked an RBI ground-rule double down the left field line. On the next at bat, senior Jacob Boudreau knocked in a run before sophomore Colton Colleran added another with a sac fly to center to make it a five-run game, but that would be all the scoring Rivier could muster.

Normand went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored.