Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped a tough 3-1 decision to Wagner Thursday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex in Teaneck, NJ.  With the victory, the Seahawks improve to 12-18 (8-5 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 11-14-1 (7-6 NEC) overall.

Both starting pitchers were outstanding on the afternoon as both junior Craig Warner (Coral Springs, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) and Wagner's Ryan Van Spronsen went the distance.  Warner (1-2), who was charged with the tough-luck loss, allowed three earned runs on six hits, while walking one and striking out a career-best six.  Van Spronsen allowed one earned run on seven hits, while walking two and striking out eight.

Senior co-captain Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) went 3-for-4, including a RBI double in the eighth inning, to lead FDU's offense.  The Seahawks' Ian Miller went 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored to pace Wagner at the plate.

Miller led off the game with a single to right-center field and advanced to second on a groundout.  On a bizarre play, he delayed stole third base, and Warner threw wildly over to third after he got the ball back from freshman catcher Pat McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ).  Miller was able to score on the bad throw to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead.

Wagner had a man on third with one out in the top of the second, but Warner got the next two batters on swinging strike outs to end the threat.

The Knights loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with two outs.  However, freshman Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the inning.

With a man on first and two outs in the top of the fourth, the Seahawks' Tommy Higgins hit a ball to left-center field.  Freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside) made an apparent diving catch going to his left, but the ball bounced out of his glove, allowing the runner to score to extend Wagner's lead to 2-0.

Senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) laid down a bunt single down the third base line with one out in the bottom of the fourth and stole second, but was left stranded.

After neither team did anything at the plate in the fifth and sixth innings, Wagner plated its third run of the game in the top of the seventh to go up 3-0.  Warner got the first two men out of the inning and allowed an infield single and a walk to put runners on first and second with two out.  Miller then hit a single to center field to drive home the run.

FDU finally got on the scoreboard with a run in the eighth to cut the deficit to 3-1.  Ritz singled with one out and advanced to second when senior co-captain Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) tried to bunt for a base hit.  Kresky followed with a double off the right field fence to drive home Ritz, but was left out on second base.

The Knights went down in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the game as the Seahawks took game one of the four-game series, 3-1.

“Van Spronsen is one of the top pitchers in the league and proved it again today,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said.  “I thought we played hard, but he was a little too tough to overcome.” 

FDU and Wagner will play a pair of seven-inning contests on Friday at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.  First-pitch for game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with the second game starting 30 minutes after the completion of the first game.