The Fairleigh Dickinson Baseball team swept a doubleheader Friday afternoon at FDU Field in Teaneck with a pair of walk-off victories. The Knights won the nine-inning game one, 6-5, and won the seven-inning game two, 12-8. With the game tied at five in game one, junior DJ Robinson (Woodbury, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) laced a single that one-hopped the fence in right-center field to score sophomore Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas). In game two, sophomore Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) blasted the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a walk-off grand slam. The Knights have now won three games in a row. With the sweep, the Knights improve to 13-34 (8-18 NEC) on the season, while the Mount falls to 19-30 (13-17 NEC) overall.
In game one, the Mount took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second when they took advantage of three Knights' errors in the inning. All three runs were unearned.
Holsman stroked his fourth home run of the season with two outs in the third to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Holsman came through once again in the fifth with a double to left-center to tie the game at three. Junior Scott Morrison (Coral Springs, FL/J.P. Taravella) and sophomore Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) scored on the play. The next batter, junior Steven LaForge (Garfield, NJ/St. Mary), gave the Knights their first lead of the game, 4-3, as his single to left scored Holsman.
Mount St. Mary's tied the game at four in the sixth on Michael Foster's RBI single to center.
The Mount then took a 5-4 lead in the eighth on Tom Healy's RBI single.
However, the Knights answered in the bottom half of the frame to tie the game once again at five. Freshman Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) singled to center to score Kresky with the tying run.
In the ninth, Holsman doubled to lead off the inning to setup the game winning hit by Robinson and give the Knights the 6-5 victory.
Senior Mike Strachman started on the hill for the Knights and pitched well. He went 6.2 innings, scattering eight hits and allowing four runs. However, only one run was earned. He walked two and struck out two. Fellow classmate Corey Jeffers (Woodbine, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) came in relief of Strachman to get the final out of the seventh. He allowed one run on one hit in one inning of work. Junior Zach Kisling (Marlboro, NJ/Marlboro Central) (2-2) earned the victory as he pitched the final 1.1 innings. He allowed only one hit.
Mike Matta (4-5) took the loss on the mound for the Mount. He was tagged for two runs on four hits in his 2.0 innings of relief work. Kent Worthington started for Mount St. Mary's and allowed four runs, all earned, on seven hits in 6.1 innings.
Holsman led the Knights' 11-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with a home run and two doubles. He drove in three and also scored three times. Kresky and Morrison each went 2-for-4 and a run scored.
Jacob Darr, Kyle Kane, Mark Quaranta and Foster each had two hits for the Mount. Foster also had two RBI's.
In game two, the Mount took an early 1-0 lead as Kane scored on a 5-4-3 double play.
The Knights answered in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at one as Anderson scored on Eliasen's single to right field.
Foster led off the third with a solo shot to gave the Mount a 2-1 lead.
Once again, the Knights answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame to tie the game at two. Junior Brian Dillon (Sarasota, FL/Cardinal Mooney) raced home from third on junior Joe Martino (Westbury, NY/W.T. Clarke)'s swinging bunt.
Josh Winter put the Mount up 3-2 in the fourth with an RBI double. The Knights again tied the game in the bottom half on LaForge's RBI double down the right field line, scoring Holsman.
The Mount took a 4-3 lead in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk. However, the Knights finally took the lead in the bottom of the inning as they scored three times to take a 6-4 lead. Kresky drove home Robinson with a single tie the game. Junior Erik Pollag (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul VI) then gave the Knights the lead as he drove home Kresky with a single. The lead was extended to 6-4 on a double steal that saw freshman Ben Mersky (Hershey, PA/Hershey) steal home after the Mount failed to throw out Eliasen at second base on his steal attempt.
Mersky then gave the Knights two more insurance runs in the sixth as he doubled home Martino and Kresky to put the Knights up 8-4.
In the seventh, the Mount staged a rallied and scored four times to tie the game at eight. Quaranta tied the game with a two-run single to center.
In the game-winning seventh, Holsman doubled to lead off the inning and LaForge was walked intentionally. Freshman Jonathan Torres (Miramar, FL/Pine Crest), who came into the game as a defensive replacement, reached on a fielder's choice, but Holsman was out at third. After an errant throw on a pick-off attempt at second, LaForge and Torres each advanced a base. After battling with a full count, Martino drew a walk to set up the dramatic walk-off grand slam by Kresky and give the Knights a 12-8 victory and sweep.
Freshman Matt Cadigan (Freehold, N.J./Freehold) started on the hill for the Knights and allowed four runs, three earned on five hits in 4.2 innings of work. He walked three and struck out five. Junior Spencer Kelly (Rockville, MD/The Bullis School) (2-5) earned the victory as he pitched one inning of one-hit relief.
Matta (4-6) suffered his second loss of the day in relief for the Mount. He pitched 0.2 innings and gave up the final four runs. The Knights tagged Mount St. Mary's starter Vincent Molesky for eight earned runs on 12 hits. He walked seven and struck out four.
Pollag went 3-for-4 to lead the 15-hit attack by the Knights. Holsman, Martino and Kresky each had two hits. Kresky also had five RBI's and scored three times.
Darr, Matta and Foster each had two hits for the Mount, who collected 11 as a team.
The two teams return to action tomorrow to play the final two games of the series. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at FDU Field in Teaneck. This is also the final two home games of the season for the Knights.
