Box Score

Purchase, NY (March 19, 2015) – The Purchase baseball team opened up the 2015 season with a 15-6 loss to non-conference foe Manhattanville College Thursday afternoon. 
 
Manhattanville (5-4) scored 15 runs on 15 hits against the Panthers, including four doubles, a triple and two home runs.  The Valiants opened up the scoring in the third inning with a single by Bobby Guerra to bring home Anthony Lannuzzi.  Purchase remained scoreless until Robert Michael (SO/Lagrangeville, NY) made his way home in the fifth off a balk from Manhattanville pitcher Anthony LoFaro. 
 
The Panthers went on to score another four in the sixth off three walks and a Billy Kaul (JR/Eastchester, NY) single to left field.  For the remainder of the game however, the Valiants continued to put in work at the plate. With a two-run homer from Robbie Lynch in the sixth, Manhattanville eventually scored three more runs, taking a 14-5 lead. The Panthers scored one more run for the remainder of the contest before the Valiants walked away with a 15-6 win.
 
Kaul went 2-for-4 at the plate, tallying a run, a double and a RBI while collecting two putouts defensively.  Designated hitter Nick Kulbaba (JR/Suffern, NY) went 2-for-3 and center fielder Chris Triano (JR/Greenwhich, CT) added to the effort with two hits, including a double, one run and four putouts defensively. 
 
Senior pitcher Christian Knochen (Cornwall, NY) started on the mound for Purchase, giving up one hit with one strikeout in two innings of action.  Andrew Fingerhut (SO/Smithtown, NY) replaced Knochen in the top of the third.  Fingerhut took the loss for Purchase after giving up six hits and five runs off the 13 batters he faced. 
 
For Manhattanville, LaFaro made his first collegiate start, tossing five strong innings, allowing one run on five hits before picking up his first college win. Guerra went 3-for-5 at the plate, tallying a run and three RBIs while also collecting five putouts defensively.   
 
Purchase returns to action this weekend, starting with a home-opener against The City College of New York on Saturday.  The non-conference doubleheader is set to start at 2 p.m. With snow on the way, stay updated with purchasecollegeathletics.com for any changes.