PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville baseball team split a pair of games on Saturday afternoon against the King's Monarchs by the scores of 2-6 in the opener before salvaging the second game in a 1-0 well-pitched game by sophomoreMichael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon).
 
Freshman Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) was the offensive star on the day for Manhattanville as he went 4-for-4 in the opener, before walking twice and scoring the game's lone run in the nightcap.
 
In the first game, junior Alex Basso (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) went to the hill in search of his team leading fifth win but the Monarchs put up a pair of run in the top of the first inning as Eric Bohem singled through the infield to put his team ahead.
 
The Valiants sliced the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the first inning as Nunez led the rally with a double over the third base bag. Senior Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury) bunted Nunez to third, and was followed by classmateSean Ferguson (Astoria, N.Y./Xavier) singling up the middle to bring the first run home.
 
Basso set the Monarchs down in order in the second inning, but allowed another two-run base hit as King's first baseman Anthony Lizzi doubled into the right field corner.
 
Nunez got on with a leadoff double in the bottom of the third, and sophomore Bobby Guerra (Bronx, N.Y./Arlington) led off the fourth with a base knock but neither runner was brought around as the Valiants struggled to string together several hits in a rally. The Monarchs added another run in the top of the fifth to increase their lead to four.
 
In the bottom of the inning, Nunez started things off once again with a double and came around on a LoVetere single to make the game 5-2. LoVetere was thrown out at second base trying to extend his hit into a double before King's starter Brenton Eades got the next batter to end the inning.
 
King's scored once more in the top of the sixth inning to cap off the scoring at 6-2 as both Basso and Eades finished the seventh inning without allowing much offensively.
 
In game two, Lyon went to the bump in search of the split of the series-opening doubleheader. Lyon worked around a leadoff bunt single to start off the contest but retired the next three batters to send the game to the bottom of the first.
 
Nunez led off yet another inning with a walk and then stole second base against Monarch starter Ryan Gimbi. LoVetere walked to put runners at the corners with no outs to bring up Ferguson. The Valiant right fielder grounded out deep in the hole at second base, with Nunez turning the corner hard at third base and slid under the tag of Tim Machete to score what proved to be the games only run.
 
Lyon allowed one hit in each of the second and third innings, and worked around a pair of singles to start off the top of the fourth to keep the game scoreless.
 
Meanwhile, Gimbi retired 13 straight from the second through the top of the sixth where he started the inning with a walk to Nunez. LoVetere tried to lay down a bunt to move Nunez to second, but Marchetti made an attempt for the lead runner and gunner down Nunez at second base. Gimbi set down Ferguson, while Marchetti made the third out of the inning as he retired pinch runner Jake McGrath (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) in a stolen base attempt.
 
The Monarchs attempted to stage a comeback in the top of the seventh as Lyon was looking to close out the victory. After a leadoff groundout, the next batter singled to put the tying run on base. Lyon got the next batter to pop out, followed by Lyon throwing a wild pitch to put the base runner in scoring position.
 
Lyon plunked the next Monarch at the dish to put the go-ahead runner on base, which forced the Valiants to go to the bullpen and bring on sophomore Joe Palmeri (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport/South Manor). The hard-throwing right-hander set down the league's leading hitter in Chris Sweeney to salvage the split and pick up his fifth save in the process.
 
Lyon earned the win to improve to 3-4 on the season, after allowing no runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out a pair. Palmeri picked up the save while getting the lone batter he faced. Gimbi allowed one run, while allowing just one hit to sophomore Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac).
 
Manhattanville (9-20, 6-8 Freedom) and King's (15-10, 5-9 Freedom) will conclude their three-game series tomorrow afternoon with a nine-inning contest scheduled for 1 p.m. tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.