Saturday saw another day of action in the 2012 MAAC Baseball Championship Tournament, with Manhattan College going 2-2 on the day, beating Rider University 6-5, then defeating Canisius 5-4 to force Sunday's game seven.
The Jaspers beat the Rider University Broncs 6-5 in the first game of the day, advancing to face Canisius in the championship game. Jaspers outfielder Joe Rock went 3-4 on the day, and catcher Ramon Ortega had the game-winning RBI.
Rider knocked Manhattan starting pitcher Mike Giordano around a bit, getting four runs on four hits in the third. After adding another in the fourth, Giordano was pulled with the score 5-3. The Jaspers offense answered quickly, tying the game 5-5 in the fourth. Freshman reliever Michael Scarinci entered the game and pitched four scoreless innings, giving the Jaspers offense the opportunity to take the game. They did just that, scoring the go-ahead run in the eighth and advancing to play Canisius College later that day.
The second game of the day was another Manhattan College victory, forcing a game seven. The Jaspers beat Canisius College 5-4 in 10 innings. after being down 4-1 in the eighth. They managed to put together a stunning comeback capped by Brendan Slattery's walk-off single in the 10th inning.
Manhattan and Canisius will face each other again Sunday at noon, with the winner getting the MAAC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship.
Stay tuned to this storystream for updates and results from game seven of the 2012 MAAC Baseball Championship Tournament.