STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Manhattanville baseball team had a 13-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the fifth inning, but the College of Staten Island Dolphins rallied for 21 unanswered runs to complete the come from behind victory on Tuesday evening.
 
Things started off very well for Manhattanville as seven batters came to the plate in the opening inning. Freshman Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) walked on a 3-2 pitch, and then stole second base. Senior Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) brought Nunez home with a single and later came around on a base knock by classmate John Bucci (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) to put the Valiants up 2-0. Sophomore Nate Trashansky (Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) was up next and doubled to right centerfield to drive home Bucci and put Manhattanville up by three.
 
Sophomore Brian Lobel (Purchase, N.Y./Harrison) made his first career start in the bottom of the inning and retired the side in order on a pair of groundouts and a pop out. Lobel pitched well over the next three innings as he allowed just one hit in each of the frames to keep the Dolphins offense at bay.
 
In the bottom of the second inning, Manhattanville's offense put together a seven-run rally as freshman Kurt Hommen (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) started things off with a single to right field. Nunez singled, followed by sophomore Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) picking up a base hit to score Hommen. LoVetere reached on an infield single to score another run, followed by Ferguson driving home a run with a sacrifice fly to right field.
 
After a pitch hit Bucci, Trashansky came up and singled through the infield to plate two more runners and chase Robert Jannace from the game. Jonathan Aponte was first out of the bullpen and allowed a double to sophomore Kevin Brady (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep), which allowed Trashansky to score and put Manhattanville up 10-0 after an inning and a half.
 
Hommen started another rally in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff walk, and was later erased on a fielder's choice by Nunez. Euvino then singled to bring home Nunez, who had advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Two batters later, Ferguson doubled to plate a runner followed by Bucci reaching on a fielding error that allowed Ferguson to score as the Valiants worked their way to a 13-0 lead.
 
Lobel allowed four straight hits to start the bottom of the fifth inning, which resulted in a pair of Dolphins runs crossing the plate. Lobel retired the next three batters and left the game in line for the victory as he handed the ball over to the bullpen for the sixth inning.
 
Graduate student Donny Pitasi (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane) and sophomore Zack Zareva (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) combined to pitch the sixth inning that saw 13 Staten Island batters come to plate, with nine runs scoring as six of the nine were charged to Pitasi's ledger.
 
Down only a pair, Staten Island continued its charge to the lead in the bottom of the seventh with five straight hits to chase Zareva from the game. Up next was freshman Julian Ponce (Port Chester, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), who collected three straight outs to end the rally but the Dolphins had already taken their first lead of the game at 14-13.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, 11 more Dolphins came to the plate against Ponce and junior Ryan Blinderman (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) as Staten Island blew the game open with another seven runs to cap off the scoring at 21-13.
 
Taking the loss in relief was Zareva (0-2), after pitching 2/3 of an inning and allowed the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning. Picking up the win in relief was Christopher Matusiewicz (1-0) after tossing three scoreless innings and allowing no runs on three hits and a walk.
 
Manhattanville (8-18, 5-7 Freedom) will need to put the loss in its rear-view mirror quickly with a home contest scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. when Mount St. Mary comes to town for a make-up game from early March. Staten Island (17-9, 6-2 CUNYAC) will play its next three against CCNY, with the first contest coming on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.