Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team bounced back Saturday afternoon with an impressive doubleheader sweep over first-place Bryant at Conaty Park in Smithfield, RI.  The Knights took the first seven-inning contest, 3-1, before hanging on in the seven-inning nightcap, 5-3.  With the victories, FDU snaps a three-game losing streak to improve to 21-20-1 (15-8 NEC) on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 27-17 (18-5 NEC) overall.

Pitching was the story in the opener as both starters pitched well.  Freshman Joe Borelli (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan ) (3-1) picked up the win as he allowed only one earned run on six hits in 6.0 innings of work.  The righty walked two and struck out two. 

Freshman Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) relived Borelli, who was pulled after allowing a lead-off single to start the seventh inning, recorded a foul out to third base as senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) made the catch of the year for the first out.  The FDU closer then induced a 4-6-3 double play to pick up his NEC-leading ninth save, and in the process, tied Spencer Kelly (Rockville, MD/The Bullis School) for the most saves in one season in the program's history.

Craig Schlitter went the distance for Bryant in the losing effort as he allowed three earned runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out four.

Both teams went down in order in the first inning.  In the top of the second, junior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) and freshman Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) delivered back-to-back singles with one out but were both stranded.

After the Bulldogs did nothing in the bottom of the second, the Knights came up empty on another scoring chance in the top of the third.  Holsman singled with one out, stole second and moved to third on freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside)'s groundout to second base but was left on third when the inning ended.

Borelli ran into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third but was able to get out of it.  With one out, Bryant's lead-off batter, Dan Muscatello, reached on an error by first baseman Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) and advanced to second on Kevin Brown's bunt single down the third base line, taking advantage of Holsman playing back at third.  After a fly ball to right field moved Muscatello to third, Borelli got a fly out to Moonan in center field to end the threat.

The top of the fourth was the key inning for FDU as the Knights scored three times to take a 3-0 lead.  With two outs, Moonan drew a walk and advanced to second on freshman Mike Hewson (Sayville, NY/Sayville)'s infield single up the middle.  Freshman Pat McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ) then came to the place and laced a 1-0 pitch to the gap in left-center field for a two-run double, scoring Moonan and Hewson.  Freshman Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) capped the scoring with a solid RBI single to right-center field that scored McClure.

Despite allowing a lead-off single to begin the bottom of the fourth, Borelli kept the momentum on FDU's side by retiring the next three batters to end the inning.

After the Knights went down in order in the top of the fifth, Bryant got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 3-1.  Borelli allowed consecutive one-out singles to Muscatello and Brown to put runners on first and third.  John Mullen followed with a RBI groundout to score Muscatello.  The Bulldogs were not done as Jamie Skagerlind singled to move Brown to third, but Borelli got another fly out to Moonan in center field to halt the scoring.

Neither team threatened over the final two innings as FDU hung on for the 3-1 victory.

Six Knights collected a hit with McClure collecting two RBIs.  Muscatello and Brown each had two of Bryant's six hits.

In game two, neither team did anything offensively over the first two innings, but FDU was able to break through in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead.  Freshman Ryan MacDonald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Trees) led off the inning with a bloop double down the left-field line.  Senior JT Sherba (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) followed with a sacrifice bunt that advanced MacDonald to third.

Siebler came to the plate and beat out a dribbler down the third-base line for an infield single, but on the play, the third baseman's throw got past the first baseman, allowing MacDonald to score.  With two outs, Siebler got into scoring position by stealing second and scored on Ritz's RBI single to right-center field.

Senior co-captain Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), who started game two on the mound for the Knights, pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half of the third to keep the momentum with FDU. 

After the Knights did nothing in the top of the fourth, Eliasen allowed a lead-off double to Brown in the bottom half of the inning, which was the Bulldogs' first hit of the contest, but he retired the next three batters to get out of the inning.

FDU came up big in the top of the fifth as they added three huge insurance runs to take a 5-0 lead.  Sherba led off the inning with a single to left field.  Siebler laid down a sacrifice bunt down the third base line, and once again, reached first base on an error by the third baseman as he mishandled the bunt.  Holsman then dropped a bunt single down the third-base line to load the bases with nobody out.

Sherba scored the first run when senior co-captain Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) was hit by a pitch with one out.  Siebler scampered home on a wild pitch for the second run, which moved Kresky to second and Holsman to third.  After Anderson was intentionally walked to load the bases, Weeks hit a fly ball down the right field line in foul territory that was caught by the first baseman with his momentum carrying him towards right field.  Holsman smartly tagged up from third and scored to put the Knights up 5-0.

Eliasen hit the lead-off man in the bottom of the fifth but got out of the inning on a beautiful 3-6-3 double play turned by MacDonald and Kresky.

FDU put runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the sixth but failed to extend its lead.  Eliasen allowed only his second hit of the day with two outs in the bottom of the inning but snared a comebacker to end the frame.

After the Knights went down in order in the top of the seventh, FDU had difficulties trying to get the final three outs.  Eliasen yielded a lead-off double and hit a batter to put runners on first and second with no one out.   He then gave up a RBI double to pinch-hitter Daniel St. George, which cut the lead to 5-1. 

With runners on second and third, Eliasen induced a RBI groundout to Weeks at second base for the first out.  However, his day ended after allowing a RBI single to Matt Zanotta that made the score 5-3.

Snyder was summoned into the game, looking for his second save of the day.  After walking Muscatello on four pitches, Brown helped him out by swinging at the first pitch and hit a high pop up behind home plate that saw Sherba make a nice catch for the second out. 

The FDU closer then got a fly out to Moonan in center field for his NEC-leading 10th save and also became the Knights' single-season leader in saves.

Eliasen (6-3) pitched fantastic over the first six innings before being pulled.  The righty allowed three earned runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out one in his 6.1 innings of work to earn the win.

The Bulldogs' Joseph Michaud was charged with the loss.  In 4.1 innings, he allowed five runs, three earned, on five hits, while walking two and striking out five.

MacDonald went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored as he led FDU's six-hit performance.  Siebler collected a singled and scored two runs.  Five different players collected a hit for Bryant.

“This was a big step up day for FDU today, especially for the freshmen,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said. Six freshmen were major contributors in the game one win.  The experienced players like Eli (Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic)) stepped up for us in game two.  It was an outstanding day all around for the team.  Congrats goes to Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) for becoming the single-season saves leader.  If we keep this up, next weekend could be special.”

The Knights will look to win their fifth-consecutive NEC series in the finale tomorrow against the Bulldogs.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.