PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College baseball team earned a pair of hard-fought wins Wednesday evening, besting Manhattanville College in back-to-back Skyline Conference contests.

The Panthers took the games by the scores of 9-7 and 6-4, moving to 18-17 overall and 9-7 in the league. For the Valiants, they dropped to 16-21 and 9-9, respectively.

Game One: Purchase 9, Manhattanville 7 (7 inn)

The first game of the afternoon started with an offensive explosion, as the two sides combined for 16 runs on 25 hits.

Manhattanville kicked things off with a two-run homer in the first inning, and held that lead until the third frame, when Purchase added two runs of its own.

The runs came courtesy of back-to-back RBI-singles from Matt Castrogiovanni (FR/Massapequa Park, NY) and Frank Rega (FR/West Islip, NY).

The Valiants then responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to sneak back in front, before the Blue and Orange tacked on two more runs in the fourth via an error to regain the lead, 4-3.

An RBI-single from the hosts tied things up once more, before Purchase exploded in the sixth inning to the tune of five runs and a big lead.

The scoring started with a two-run double from Patrick Reyes (FR/Plainedge, NY), as the speedy outfielder crossed the plate during the next at-bat via a stolen base and error combo.

Cameron Cruz (SO/Bronx, NY) then knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly, before Jemal Betances (SR/Bronx, NY) capped the streak with an RBI-single, pushing the margin to 9-4.

The Valiants answered in a big way in the bottom of the seventh with three runs, as they nearly completed the comeback effort, before Betances closed the game down with his fifth save of the season.

Overall, Purchase finished with 11 hits in the win. Castrogiovanni led the squad with three hits, while Betances, Rega, Reyes and Liam Daly (FR/Babylon, NY) each finished with two hits apiece.

On the mound, starter Brandon Reybok (FR/Lindenhurst, NY) went four innings in a no-decision effort. He allowed three runs on five hits and struckout one.

Mason Compton (SO/Carmel, NY) earned the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief.

Game Two: Purchase 6, Manhattanville 4

Following the offensive fireworks of game one, game two was a much slower start as only one run (a Valiants' RBI-single in second inning) was scored during the first three innings.

That all changed in the fourth frame though, as the bats for the Panthers and Valiants erupted.

The Blue and Orange paced the inning with a Castrogiovanni RBI-single, followed by a Compton two-run single, which pushed the margin to 3-1. From there, Louis Carvell (SR/New York, NY) knocked in one more run via a sacrifice bunt, extending the lead to three runs. 

Despite the deficit, Manhattanville was unfazed. The hosts immediately responded in the bottom of the fourth with three runs of their own, tying the contest up at 4-4.

After the two sides went scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, things finally broke in favor of the Panthers in the eighth.

During the stanza, Reyes provided the eventual winning run off an RBI-single to right field, before Castrogiovanni hit a sacrifice fly to score an insurance run and push the contest to 6-4.

From there, the senior pitching duo of Jackson Lowery (Woodbridge, VA) and Betances combined for the final six outs of the game, as the latter earned his sixth save of 2023 and his second of the day.

Before the pitching changes in the later innings, it was KJ Dow (FR/East Northport, NY) who earned the start for the Panthers. He went 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with one strikeout in a no decision. 

Reliever Justin Doskoez (JR/Eastport, NY) collected the win after he came on for Dow. In 3 1/3 innings, he fanned three and allowed no runs.

At the plate, Compton and Trevor Zanderzuk (JR/Manorville, NY) each finished with two hits apiece.

Up next for the Panthers are two days of rest before they are back in action against Mount Saint Vincent on May 6.

While the doubleheader is considered a road game, it will be played at Purchase College. First pitch is scheduled for noon.