Manhattanville head coach Jeff Caulfield earned his 200th career win on Friday. Manhattanville athletics photo

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Manhattanville head baseball coach Jeff Caulfield picked up milestone victory number 200 in the win over Wilkes University on Friday afternoon, as the Valiants took down the Colonels by the final score of 8-4 in Freedom Conference play at Manhattanville Field.

Caulfield, in his 10th year as Manhattanville head coach, is second on the all-time wins list at Manhattanville, behind only former men's ice hockey coach and present Athletic Director Keith Levinthal. Levinthal has 202 career wins, meaning Caulfield is now only two wins from tying the all-time record at Manhattanville.

"Reaching this milestone is a great thing and is indicative of how far the program has come," said Caulfield. "It's a tribute to all the players and coaches that have dedicated themselves to the team and I look forward to continuing to build on this success for years to come."
 
With the help of junior Michael Lyon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) (2-3) tossing 7 2/3 strong innings on the mound while classmate Kevin Brady (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) collected three hits, including a solo homerun, Manhattanville (10-10, 4-6 Freedom) was able to find that success on Friday against Wilkes (9-12, 4-7 Freedom).
 
As the Freedom Conference playoff race continues to heat up, the Valiants needed a big game out of Lyon on the rubber and he definitely delivered. The right-hander allowed three earned runs on six total hits while striking out three before earning his second victory of the season.
 
Manhattanville dominated most of the game against Wilkes, starting right off the bat in the first inning. As Brady led the game off with a double to centerfield, he would eventually come around to score on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond), making it 1-0.
 
The Valiants put two more runs on the scoreboard over the next two innings off an RBI single up the middle from junior Bobby Guerra (Bronx, N.Y./Arlington) in the second and a solo homerun from Brady in the third. For the day, Brady was a triple shy of the cycle.
 
After a scoreless fourth for both teams, the Valiants tallied another run in the fifth when senior Eli Tsouristakis (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham Prep) scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Chris Conklin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland). As Wilkes scored its first run in the sixth, Manhattanville answered right back with four runs of its own over the next two innings.
 
A sloppy sixth inning for Wilkes led to three Manhattanville runs as the Valiants took a 7-1 lead. The Valiants would tally another run in the seventh as freshman Joe Anselmi (North Rockland, N.Y./North Rockland) smacked a double to right field, scoring classmate Robbie Lynch (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) to make it 8-1. The Colonels were finally able to get on Lyon in the eighth inning as they loaded the bases before bringing in three runs, cutting the deficit to 8-4.
 
Senior Ryan Blinderman (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for Manhattanville, giving up one hit while striking out three, leading the Valiants to a big conference victory with an 8-4 final.
 
Manhattanville will travel to Wilkes tomorrow for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. Live stats are available via GoValiants.com