The Fairleigh Dickinson University baseball team split a pair of games versus Monmouth University, Saturday, April 21 at FDU Field in Teaneck, NJ. The Knights dropped game one, 3-1, but rebounded to post a 5-2 victory in the second ball game to move to 8-26 overall and 3-7 in the Northeast Conference.
In the opener, FDU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third following a one-out double to right-centerfield by outfielder Matt Maher (Peekskill, NY/JFK Catholic) (Peekskill, NY/JFK Catholic). The sophomore scored three batters later on an infield single by sophomore infielder Zachary Sand (San Diego, CA/Mission Bay) (San Diego, CA/Mission Bay).
The Hawks (21-12-1, 6-4 NEC) rallied in the top of the sixth frame, stringing together four-consecutive hits to plate three runs.
Junior John O'Hara (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) fanned eight, hurling 5.1 innings of hitless ball. The southpaw suffered the loss through six innings of work, allowing four hits ? all coming in the sixth.
Sophomore right-hander Ben Green (Plainview, NY/JFK Plainview) (Plainview, NY/JFK Plainview) worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning in relief, sitting down two.
The Knights notched back-to-back two-out hits in the bottom half of the frame before a line drive off the bat of senior outfielder Vincente-Alexander Medina (North Bergen, NJ/Paramus Catholic) (North Bergen, NJ/Paramus Catholic) was ran down in the right-center field gap to seal the contest.
Sand tallied two hits, while junior outfielder John Paganotti (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) (Staten Island, NY/Rockland CC/St. Joseph by the Sea) reached base twice.
In game two, Fairleigh Dickinson jumped out to a 5-0 advantage, as Paganotti kick-started the offense in the second inning with a flare to left field. Sophomore infielder TJ Pilla (Lawrenceville, GA/Brookwood) (Lawrenceville, GA/Brookwood) drove home a run with a base knock to centerfield then Maher cleared the bases with a three-bagger down the right field line. Senior outfielder Chris Grabowski (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) poked a sacrifice fly to right field to plate the fifth run of the frame.
MU drew to a 5-2 deficit in the top of the fifth, as Rick Niederhaus (Whitehouse Station, NJ) drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single that deflected off the outstretched glove of junior shortstop Luis Rosario (Bronx, NY/James Monroe) (Bronx, NY/Rockland CC/James Monroe).
Freshman right-hander Nicholas Melchiorre (Mount Laurel, NJ/Holy Cross) picked-up his first collegiate win, tossing 4.2 innings. The right-hander allowed two earned runs and struck out four.
Green earned his second save of the season, closing out the final 2.1 innings without yielding a run.
Medina and Pilla both collected multiple hits.
The Knights host Monmouth in the series finale at noon, Sunday, April 22.
