Manhattan baseball team upsets No. 10 Miami Hurricanes for first win over ranked team since 2006

Manhattan baseball team upsets No. 10 Miami Hurricanes for first win over ranked team since 2006

Sean Brennan, Daily News Sports Writer

Like many kids growing up in Miami, Kevin Nieto dreamed of the day he would don the green and orange of the University of Miami and live out his childhood fantasy of playing baseball for the Hurricanes.

But the Hurricanes had other ideas and those did not include Nieto. So Sunday, Nieto exacted a modicum of revenge as the Manhattan College senior centerfielder went 3-for-6, including a leadoff double that jump-started a two-run first inning, as the Jaspers pounded out a 17-hit attack Manhattan shocked Miami, the nation's 10th-ranked team, 12-7, at Alex Rodriguez Park in Coral Gables, Fla.

The win is Manhattan's first over a ranked baseball team since the Jaspers knocked off No. 6 Nebraska and Joba Chamberlain in the NCAA tournament in 2006.

"They've always been my team, they've always been my school when I was growing up," said Nieto, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year. "But they didn't want me. So playing down here, in front of my family and friends, I mean, we only won the third game (of the three-game set) but we're not supposed to beat them. But we played well, we executed and we played a complete game. This feels great."

Knocking off the No. 10 team in the country is one thing, but doing it with virtually no outside practice time due to all the snow is quite another. The Jaspers managed just two days of practice outside and had to work extra in order to make even that happen.

"We only got out once or twice," Nieto said. "But to do that we had to shovel off the lacrosse and soccer fields first. All we could really do was take ground ball, it's not like we could play a simulated game or anything. I'm from Miami, so this is all different to me. But we adjusted."

Miami (5-1) had taken the first two games of the series, 7-3 Friday night in a game that was tied at 3-3 in the seventh inning, before the Hurricanes blew away the Jaspers, 18-1, Saturday. So, how does a team from the snowy Northeast with little practice time bounce back from an 18-1 shellacking to take down a national power?

Timely hitting and superb relief pitching are two ways to do it and Manhattan did both Sunday as the Jaspers posted a seven-run fourth inning to take the lead for good while freshman reliever John Soldinger pitched four scoreless innings in his collegiate debut. Not a bad way to break in.

"I was really impressed the way we bounced back," Manhattan head coach Kevin Leighton said. "You get beat up like we did (Saturday) and you figure Sunday morning you're going to be depressed and out of it. But they came out excited to be there, played well and it was good to see them bounce back like that."

The game was tied at 2-2 entering the top of the fourth inning when Manhattan blew the game open. The Jaspers (1-2) got RBI singles from Mark Onorati (4-for-6, 3 doubles, 2 runs), Anthony Armenio and Nick Camastro and a two-run double by Austin Sheffield to key the inning and take a 9-2 lead.

But Miami clawed back within 9-7 after getting three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth inning and that's when Leighton went to Soldinger for his first collegiate closeup.

"He pitched really well, was locating and had a very good curveball," Leighton said of Soldinger, who hails from Bay Shore. "He came in at 9-7 and held it for us. He kept them off balance. It was nice to see a freshman come in and pitch that well against a team like Miami."

Soldinger went four innings and allowed four hits and struck out five to earn the save. Mike McCann had an RBI single and Chad Salem added a two-run double in a three-run seventh to give the Jaspers some breathing room and Manhattan was on its way to one of its greatest wins in program history.

"It feels pretty good, especially after a close game Friday night and getting beat pretty badly Saturday," Leighton said. "That's a big win for us. When you say University of Miami baseball, you think of the College World Series every time."

Nieto, who no longer dreams of playing for the Hurricanes, this victory tells a lot about this Jaspers team.

"It shows a lot," Nieto said. "We all came together and we're a tough bunch. This team never gives up."