Box Score
Game
Highlights
NEC Release

The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped its NEC Tournament opener to top-seeded Monmouth, 7-1, Thursday afternoon at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT.  With the victory, the Hawks improve to 34-22 on the season, while the Knights fall to 24-27-1 overall.
 
FDU moves to the loser's bracket and will play Central Connecticut State in an elimination contest at Noon on Friday.  The Blue Devils lost to Sacred Heart, 3-2.
 
With the Knights trailing 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Monmouth scored four times as Jake Gronsky delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing bloop double down the right-field line, which made the score 6-1 at the time.
 
FDU loaded the bases in the top of the first with two outs but failed to score.  The Hawks also loaded the bases in their half of the first and scored twice to take a 2-0 lead.  With one out, Danny Avella hit a groundball to first baseman Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), who tried to turn a 3-6-3 double play, but Avella just beat the throw, giving Monmouth a 1-0 lead.  The second run scored on a double steal as Gronsky scampered home after a throw down to second base.
 
Over the next five innings, pitching on both sides took control as freshman Joe Borelli (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan ) and the Hawks' Pat Light were nearly flawless.  Borelli allowed a base runner in every inning but the fifth but received some help from his battery mate, freshman Pat McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ), who threw out runners trying to steal second in the second and third innings.
 
After Light retired 10 in a row going back to the final out of the top of the first, freshman Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) reached on a throwing error by the shortstop to begin the top of the fifth.  After two fly outs, senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) reached on an infield single to the hole at shortstop to keep the inning alive, but both runners were stranded as freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside) hit a weak tapper back to Light to end the frame.
 
Borelli, who settled in after his shaky first inning, retired six in a row over the fourth and fifth innings, keeping the Knights in the game.
 
In the top of the sixth, senior co-captain Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) drew a walk to lead off the inning and reached third base with two outs but did not score.
 
After Borelli pitched his fifth-consecutive scoreless inning in the sixth, FDU finally got a run in the top of the second to cut the deficit to 2-1.  With one out, freshman Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and advanced to second as the ball sailed into the dugout.  After the second out was recorded on a popup to second base, Ritz delivered a clutch RBI single to RF on a full count after a battle with Light.  Siebler made a nice slide at the plate to avoid the tag.
 
In the bottom half of the seventh, Borelli ran into a bit of trouble as he allowed a walk and a single with one out.  After collecting the second out, he gave up a RBI single up the middle to Jamie Rosenkranz on a 1-2 pitch just pass the out-stretched glove of Kresky at shortstop. 
 
Freshman Anthony Calise (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) relived Borelli and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases.  Gronsky's double was the backbreaker for the Knights as it cleared the bases and capped a four-run seventh inning for Monmouth, giving them a commanding 6-1 lead.
 
The Hawks tacked on one more in the eighth inning and limited FDU to only one hit over the final two frames as they cruised to the 7-1 victory.
 
Despite being charged for five earned runs, Borelli pitched well enough over his 6.2 innings of work to give the Knights a chance.  He walked four and struck out two in the effort.
 
Light, who will be drafted in the early rounds in the upcoming MLB draft in June, allowed one unearned run on five hits as he went the distance.  He walked two, struck out five and plunked a batter.
 
Ritz went 2-for-4 with a RBI to lead the FDU offense.  Gronsky went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored to lead Monmouth.
 
“I thought we played well,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said.  “I thought we did a great job hanging in there.  (Joe) Borelli pitched great but just ran out of steam in the seventh.  The little bleeder down the right-field line did us in.  Our kids have nothing to be ashamed of.  We need to bounce back tomorrow to keep the season alive.”
 
Please check back to www.fduknights.com to see who FDU will take on in its contest on Friday.