BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Manhattanville Valiants have reclaimed bragging rights for the "Battle of Anderson Hill Road" with a 5-3 win over Purchase College, as the rivalry of Purchase, N.Y. took to the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn.
 
The Valiants started the game off in flying fashion as freshman Jordanis Nunez (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) singled to lead off the game. Sophomore Nick Euvino (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) followed with a single and the pair was bunted over by senior Johnny LoVetere (Southbury, Conn./Canterbury). Up next was senior Sean Ferguson (Astoria, N.Y./Xavier), who plated a pair with a base hit to put Manhattanville up 2-0.
 
Junior Alex Basso (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) took to the mound in a rare non-conference start and fanned the first two Panthers he faced before allowing a single. LoVetere helped out his battery mate by gunning down Justin Sherman, en route to second base on a stolen base attempt.
 
The offense picked up another run in the second inning as sophomore Bobby Guerra (Bronx, N.Y./Arlington) singled followed by a single off the bat of junior Elias Tsouristakis (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham Prep) to send Guerra to third. Up next was junior Hans Arias (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond), who reached on an error, which also allowed Guerra to score the third unanswered run for the Valiants.
 
A brief stint on the mound ended for Basso in the top of the third as freshman Julian Ponce (Port Chester, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) was first out of the bullpen for the Valiants. Ponce walked two of the first three batters he faced followed by a single and a sacrifice fly as Purchase plated two in the bottom of the frame.
 
Manhattanville got a leadoff single off the bat of Tsouristakis to lead off the fourth, and three batters later, Euvino collected his second base hit of the night. Up next was LoVetere, who singled but was able to stay in a rundown long enough to allow Euvino to score the second run off the hit and put the Valiants back up by three runs.
 
Ponce settled down in the fourth inning as he retired the side with ease and worked in and out of trouble in the fifth inning to keep the Panthers at bay. Mitch Paz came on to replace his brother Matt Paz, who started and went the first five innings for Purchase, and worked around a Tsouristakis leadoff hit to send the game to the bottom of the sixth.
 
Next out of the bullpen for Manhattanville was junior Ryan Blinderman (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde), who worked around a hit by pitch to move the game along. The Panthers manufactured a run off of Blinderman in the seventh inning after a hit by pitch, a stolen base and a pair of sacrifice flies to bring home Purchase's third run of the contest.
 
Freshman Jason Cosentino (Valhalla, N.Y./Westlake) came on in relief and allowed two singles before getting the third out of the frame. Cosentino walked the first man he faced in the eighth before baring down and getting the next three.
 
Euvino reached base in the top of the ninth, as did Ferguson, but Manhattanville was unable to tack on any insurance runs as the game went to the bottom of the ninth. As it turned out, the Valiants didn't need any insurance runs as sophomore Joe Palmeri (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport/South Manor) worked around another leadoff single to seal the victory and regain the bragging rights for the Manhattanville side of Anderson Hill Road.
 
Earning the win in a pre-determined length to his start was Basso (3-3) after going the first two innings and allowing no runs while striking out two. Palmeri picked up his fourth save of the year, allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth.
 
Taking the loss was Matt Paz after yielding five runs on eight hits and a walk. Mitch Paz and Miller Lulow went the last four innings and allowed no runs on a pair of hits.
 
Manhattanville (6-15, 3-6 Freedom) returns to league play on Friday afternoon on the road against Wilkes at 3:30 p.m. Purchase (9-9, 4-0 Skyline) will also return to league play when it hosts St. Joseph's (LI) in Skyline Conference play.