The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped its first two games of a four-game NEC set on Friday as they fell to Sacred Heart, 7-3 and 9-5, on at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT. With the victories, the Pioneers improve to 15-17 (7-7 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 6-23 (3-11 NEC) overall.
The Pioneers scored two in the first and one in the third to take a 3-0 lead after three innings.
In the top of the fourth, sophomore Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) knocked a single to left field to score senior Steven Laforge to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Sacred Heart answered with one more in the fourth and two more in the fifth to extend its lead to 6-1.
The Knights cut the lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth on a pair of RBI groundouts as LaForge scored his second run of the game on senior Eric Pollag's RBI groundout, while Dillon scored on Anderson's RBI groundout.
The Pioneers scored once more in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead 7-3 as that would be the final outcome for game one.
Senior Nick Melchioree (2-5) took the loss on the hill for FDU. He went 4.0 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on eight hits. He walked five and struck out one.
Troy Scribner went the nine-inning distance for Sacred Heart. He limited the Knights to six hits, while allowing three earned runs, striking out four and walking one.
Pollag paced the Knights' offense with three hits. Anderson drove in two runs, and LaForge scored two runs.
In game two, junior Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) singled to start the game and later scored on senior Brian Dillon (Sarasota, FL/Cardinal Mooney)'s RBI fielder's choice to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead.
However, the Pioneers answered with two runs in the bottom half of the first to take a 2-1 lead after one inning.
After back-to-back infield singles by juniors Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) and JT Sherba (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton), Kresky singled up the middle with two outs to drive home Holsman to tie the game at two.
Sacred Heart scored two in the bottom half of the frame and added three in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a commanding 9-2 lead.
The Knights added one more run in the sixth as Sherba drove home junior Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) with a RBI sacrifice fly to center field, and the squad tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh as senior DJ Robinson (Woodbury, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) doubled home LaForge and Pollag to cut the lead to 9-5, but it was not enough as the home team held on for the win.
Anderson (1-3) took the loss on the hill for the Knights in game two. He allowed seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits in 4.0 innings of work. He struck out one batter and did not allow a walk.
Nick Leinengin also went the distance in game two for the Pioneers. He scattered 10 hits, while giving up five earned runs. He walked three and struck out six.
Kresky led the Knights' offensive by going 3-for-4 with an RBI. LaForge and Holsman each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Robinson drove home two runs.
The Knights and Pioneers will complete their four-game NEC set on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 2:00 p.m. at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT.
