Siena Baseball Loses MAAC Title Game To Manhattan

It's over.

The Siena baseball team's amazing run in the MAAC Tournament ended with a 5-1 loss to Manhattan in the league championship game on Saturday night in Trenton’s Waterfront Park.

MAAC Tournament MVP Mike Giordano allowed just one unearned run and three hits in nine innings to clinch the Jaspers first league title since 2006 and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The end of the season also likely means the final game in the Green and Gold for the greatest player in the history of the MAAC, Dan Poalini.

Paolini was named to the All-Tournament team after blasting two home runs in Siena’s four games. The two-time Player of the Year, Second Team All-American and Dick Howser Award Finalist finishes his junior season with 56 career homeruns, far and away the most in league history. Remarkably, he has a year of eligibility remaining, but he'll likely skip his final season at Siena since he'll be selected very high in June’s Major League Baseball draft.

Paolini was joined on the All-Tournament team by sophomore Mike Fish and freshman Neil Fryer, both part of Siena’s impressive nucleus of young talent that figure to keep the Saints in the MAAC hunt for the foreseeable future.

This championship belonged to Manhattan. The veteran Jaspers capped off a remarkable season that included a 20-2 regular-season league mark, and a 3-0 record in the MAAC double-elimination tournament. Saturday, they seized control of the game early, scoring twice in the second and three times in the third. They never looked back.

The Saints finished the season with a 28-30 overall record after rallying to win 21 of their final 34 games.