WEST LAWN, Pa.- The Manhattanville baseball team struggled offensively against #23/30 Misericordia starting pitcher Ryan Dorosh on Thursday night, falling to the Cougars by a final score of 8-0 in the opening round of the Freedom Conference Tournament at Owls Field.
 
Despite Manhattanville (23-17) hitting the ball hard off Dorosh, the Valiants only connected for four hits against Misericordia (27-10). Dorosh went the distance for the Cougars, pitching a complete-game shutout to help Misericordia advance to the winner's bracket to face fourth-seeded Eastern. The Valiants will play top-seeded DeSales in the loser's bracket, facing elimination if they lose.
 
Sophomore Dillon Healy (Hastings, N.Y./Hastings) made the start on the mound for the Valiants, tossing four innings, allowing five runs on five hits, but only one run was earned. Three fielding errors from Manhattanville allowed the Cougars to break the game open early. The Cougars started the scoring early, taking a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play.
 
Backed behind a solid outing from Dorosh on the mound, the Cougars continued to rally for the remainder of the contest, jumping out to an 8-0 lead after the eighth. The Valiants threw six different pitchers at the Cougars, but were unable to get any run support at the plate.
 
Manhattanville will take on DeSales tomorrow in an elimination contest starting at noon. Live stats will be available via GoValiants.com.