The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader Friday afternoon at Central Connecticut State. The Blue Devils won the opener, 2-0, before taking the nightcap, 7-3. Both contests were seven innings. The Knights only managed seven hits on the day, including one in the opener. With the victories, the Blue Devils improve to 19-15-1 (11-8 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 7-28 (4-15 NEC) overall.
Pitching was the story in game one as neither team scored over the first four innings. After the Knights went scoreless in the fifth, CCSU's Tyler McIntyre doubled to center field to lead off the bottom half of the fifth. He then moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Jake Matuszak drove home McIntyre with an RBI sacrifice fly to center field for the game's first run and giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Devils scored once more in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead 2-0. Pat Epps singled with one out. The next batter, Sean Miller-Jones doubled down the left field line to score Epps.
Senior Nick Melchiorre (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Holy Cross) (2-6) was the tough-luck loser on the mound for the Knights. He pitched a complete game six-inning effort, scattering seven hits, while walking one and striking out one.
Dave Krasnowiecki limited the Knights to one hit, a single by senior Joe Martino (Westbury, NY/W.T. Clarke) to lead off the fifth. He walked four and struck out five.
In game two, the Knights did not waste any time to jump on the scoreboard as they took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Junior Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) walked to lead off the game and immediately stole second base. No. 2 hitter, senior Steven Laforge, knocked an RBI double to right-center field to score Kresky. LaForge then advance to third base on a groundout for the first out of the inning. However, he was stranded as the next two batters struck out to end the threat.
After failing to score over the first three innings, CCSU scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Delacruz tripled to left-center field to lead off the frame. He then scored on Wells' RBI double to the same spot. Wells then advanced to third on fly ball to center field for the first out of the inning, but the Knights buckled down and were able to get out of the inning with no further damage.
However, in the bottom of the fifth, the home team's bats came to life as they scored five times to take a commanding 7-1 lead. The last four runs of the innings were scored with two outs.
FDU was able to get back to runs in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-3. With one out senior Brian Dillon (Sarasota, FL/Cardinal Mooney) singled and junior Erik Pollag (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul VI) doubled, putting runners at second and third. The next batter, sophomore Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands), delivered an RBI single to center field, scoring both runners. However, that was all the Knights would get the rest of the game as the Blue Devils completed the sweep with a 7-3 win.
Senior Chris Theordor (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) (0-6) had one of his better pitching performances on the mound this season despite being tagged with the loss. The Knights' starter went 4.0 innings, allowing two runs, both earned, while scattering five hits.
The Knights were limited to six hits in the nightcap as six different players collected a hit. Anderson led the team with two RBI's.
The two teams will conclude the series with a single nine inning game on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. in New Britain, CT.
