Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team clinched its first NEC Tournament berth since 1999 with a 5-3 victory over LIU Brooklyn Friday afternoon at LIU Field in Brooklyn, NY.  With the victory, the Knights improve to 24-23-1 (18-11 NEC) on the season, while the Blackbirds fall to 19-33 (10-19 NEC) overall.

Now that FDU is in the playoffs, it will be playing for seeding in the four-team NEC Tournament, which begins next Thursday, May 17 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT.  Currently, the Knights would be the no. 2 seed behind Monmouth.  FDU holds a slim one game lead over both Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut State, whom are 18-13 in conference play and have one game remaining. The Knights hold the tiebreaker over both squads because they beat them three out of four earlier in the season.

Despite only collecting five hits on the day, FDU did just enough in a total team effort.  Junior Craig Warner (Coral Springs, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) improved to 3-5 on the season after pitching 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, while walking, striking out two and plunking one batter.

Senior co-captain Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) had a solid day as he went 2-for-3, including a big home run to lead off the eighth inning to give the Knights a 5-3 lead.  He also played well defensively at first base and saved the game for FDU in the bottom of the sixth with a great diving play to prevent two runners from scoring with two outs, which would have cut the Knights' lead to 3-2.

FDU took advantage of four hit batsmen and were able to drive home two runs on a pair of RBI sacrifice flies, while executing two sacrifice bunts.

On a 1-1 pitch in the top of the first, senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) got things going with a lead-off bomb over the left field fence for his second home run of the season, giving the Knights an early 1-0 lead.

With one out in the top of the third, FDU loaded the bases without getting a hit and eventually scored two times to extend their lead to 3-0.  Junior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) hit a RBI sacrifice fly to left field, which scored freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside).  With two outs, Eliasen hit a ball in the hole at shortstop, but junior Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) beat the throw at second base after a great fielding play.  The Knights took advantage as freshman Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) delivered the lone hit of the inning with a RBI single to right field, scoring senior co-captain Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold)

LIU threatened to score in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on third and two outs, but Warner was able to induce a groundout to end the inning.

After Weeks was stranded at third in the top of the sixth, the Blackbirds put their first true scoring threat of the contest together in the bottom half of the frame.  Two singles put runners on the corners with one out.  A wild pitch then put runners on second and third.  However, Warner struck out Pete Leonello, the NEC leader in hits, for the second out and covered first base for the third out after Eliasen's great diving stop off the bat of clean-up batter Drew Walsh to get out of trouble.

FDU scored a huge insurance run in the top of the seventh, which turned out to be the game-winning run, as Anderson lined a RBI sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded, driving home freshman Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area), who singled to lead off the inning for a 4-0 advantage.

Freshman Anthony Calise (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) relieved Warner to start the bottom of the seventh and looked like he was in for an easy appearance after striking out the first two batters he faced.  The righty then walked the next batter on four pitches and yielded a single to put runners on first and second.  The Blackbirds cut the lead to 4-3 as Julian Castro stroked a three-run home run on a full count.  Calise got the next batter to groundout to end the inning.

The Knights got a run back in the top of the eighth on Eliasen's lead-off solo home run, his first of the year, to extend the lead to 5-3, which was all FDU would need.

Freshman Yonah Perline (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Dominic) pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth, and fellow classmate Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) closed the door in the bottom of the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his NEC-leading 12^th save, while clinching FDU's first postseason berth in 12 years.

LIU only mustered five hits on the day off Knights' pitching with Derek Stupski going 2-for-4 with a run scored.  Castro added all three RBIs on his three-run homer.

Blackbirds' starter Chris Franzese was charged with the loss on the mound.  In 6.1 innings of work, he allowed four earned runs on four hits, while walking four, striking out three and plunking four batters.

“It is nice to go in through the front door by winning our own game,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said.  “I cannot say enough about the chemistry of this team, how hard the guys have worked and the seniors gelling with the younger kids.  This has been a storybook season, and we hope there is still more to come.  I also could not be happier for our alumni who have waited for this day to return to the playoffs.”

The series will continue Saturday with a pair of seven-inning contests.  Game one's first pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. at LIU Field.