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PONCE, PR \u2013 The Manhattan Jaspers Baseball team (0-3) narrowly fell to the Cougars of the University of Houston (3-0) inside Estadio Francisco Montaner on Sunday morning to conclude its participation in the eight-team PR Baseball Challenge.<\/p>\n
HOW IT HAPPENED
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STATS AND NOTES<\/p>\n
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Jaspers started rather quickly against one of the more prominent XII (Big 12) teams in the respective conference, the Houston Cougars, with a bloop single into left by Vincent Samuel<\/a> to post the game’s first run on the board, driving home Jeremy Sosa<\/a> from second.
\n\tIn the home half of the fifth inning, relief pitcher Jackson Klein<\/a> was able to get in and out of trouble with a runner in scoring position on second base, by striking out the next two batters, both swinging, for an emphatic ending to the inning, trailing by just one run.
\n\tPlaying from behind were the Jaspers for the next five innings, before Colin Basehore<\/a> opened the seventh inning with a double down the right field line. Two batters later, it was Ryan Lordier<\/a> who knocked a comebacker to the pitcher to advance Basehore just 90 feet away from providing the tying run.
\n\tThen, it was Hunter Sute<\/a> who found some space in right field to bring home Basehore to knot the game at two.
\n\tDown the stretch, the Jaspers got into a bit of trouble with a runner on third, before Houston hit the eventual go-ahead base hit into center field to drive home the runner.
\n\tManhattan attempted a comeback in the top of the ninth with Basehore swinging at the first pitch to send a base hit into center field, but it was ultimately not enough.
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\n\tHunter Sute<\/a> provided the tying base hit into right center to finish his day 2-for-4 from the plate with the aforementioned RBI.
\n\tColin Basehore<\/a> also went 2-for-4 on the day with a double and crossed the plate once.
\n\tVincent Samuel<\/a> continued his powerful weekend in Puerto Rico with an RBI in a 1-for-3 day, which also included one walk.
\n\tIn relief, Jackson Klein<\/a> replaced starter Matthew Steinberg<\/a> for his first appearance of the 2026 campaign, fanning five in 13 batters faced.
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