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The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team kept its season alive with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Central Connecticut State in an NEC Tournament elimination game at Dodd Stadium Friday afternoon in Norwich, CT.  With the victory, the Knights snap their four-game losing streak and improve to 25-27-1 on the season, while the Blue Devils conclude their year with an overall record of 28-24.

FDU will take on the loser of the Monmouth/Sacred Heart contest at Noon on Saturday. 

Senior co-captain Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) (8-4) did what he has done all year in big games for the Knights.  The righty went the distance for the sixth time this season, scattering 10 hits as he picked up his eighth victory of the season, tying the program's single-season record.  He allowed only two earned runs, while walking two and striking out four.

CCSU's Cody Brown, who was Eliasen's high school teammate for one season at Gloucester Catholic, was charged with the loss as FDU beat the freshman lefty for the second time this season.  The southpaw yielded three earned runs on eight hits, while walking four and striking out two in 6.2 innings of work.

Eliasen ran into trouble right out of the gate in the top of the first as he allowed a lead-off walk and a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out.  JP Sportman drove home the first run of the game with a RBI sacrifice fly to right field,  giving the Blue Devils an early 1-0 lead.  After allowing another single, Eliasen induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

FDU answered quickly by scoring two times in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead.  The Knights had a chance to have a big first inning as they loaded the bases with one out but failed to tack on after taking the lead.

Senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) led off the frame with a single to left-center but was erased at second base on freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside)'s fielder's choice to right field, which fell in for a potential hit.  Holsman had to hold up and was thrown out on the play.  Senior co-captain Ryan Kresky (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) followed with a sharp single to center field, and junior Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) then ripped a 1-0 pitch to the gap in left-center field for a RBI single.  Ritz scored on the play to tie the contest at one.

Junior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) stepped to the plate and delivered a RBI single down the right field to give FDU a 2-1 lead as Kresky scampered home from second base.  Freshman Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) then singled to load the bases, but the Knights failed to do more damage as a strike out and fly out to left field ended the threat.

The Blue Devils threatened in the top of the third as the first two batters of the inning reached on a single and a throwing error by Weeks, which occurred after he made a great diving play at second base on a sharp groundball.  After two fly outs, both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch, but Eliasen induced a weak groundball to second base to end the inning.

The Knights missed another golden opportunity to add more runs to their lead in the bottom of the third as they loaded the bases for the second time in the contest, but once again, failed to score.  Weeks tripled off the right-field wall with two outs and Moonan and freshman Ryan MacDonald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Trees) worked walks, but all three were left on the bases when the inning ended.

In the top of the fourth, CCSU's Jake Matuszak tied the game at two with a two-out RBI single to right field.  Mitch Wells followed with a single to left field with Matuszak advancing to third, but Wells was thrown out at second to end the inning as he tried to stretch the hit into a double.

After FDU failed to score in the bottom of the fourth, the Blue Devils had a chance to take the lead in the top of the fifth.  Sportman reached on a two-base error as Holsman did not field a groundball that took off down the left-field line.  A deep fly ball to center field advanced Sportman to third with one out.  With the infield in, Kresky made a nice play at shortstop on a hard bouncer for the second out, and Elisen recorded a strikeout to end the inning.

Both teams went down in order in the sixth inning and Eliasen retired the side in the seventh, sitting down nine in a row.

With the game still tied at two, the Knights made their half of the seventh count as they scored the eventual game-winning run for a 3-2 lead.  Freshman Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) worked a walk to start the inning and advanced to second on Holsman's perfect sacrifice bunt.  On a 0-1 pitch, Ritz delivered his second clutch hit for FDU in the tournament as drove home Siebler with a RBI single to right field to regain the lead.  The Knights loaded the bases later in the inning for the third time and did not score for the third time.

Over the final two innings, Eliasen had to work out of trouble before finishing the job.  He allowed a lead-off double to start the eighth inning and got out of it after the runner advanced to third.  To start the ninth, Eliasen gave up a lead-off single but retired the final three batters to give FDU its first NEC Tournament victory since 1999.

Both teams had multiple chances to score, each leaving 10 men on base.  The Knights collected nine hits on the afternoon and were led by Weeks' 2-for-3 effort, which included a triple and a RBI.  The Blue Devils finished with 10 hits with Wells going 3-for-5.  Tyler McIntyre and Josh Ingham added two safeties in the loss.

“This was a typical Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) performance,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said.  “He has been the bulldog, the horse and everything else for us all year long.  You have to love his heart.  As usual, he stepped up for us in a big game.”

“There was a great combination of the older and younger kids getting the job done as we have seen all year,” added Puccio.  “(Jordan) Ritz getting a big RBI hit was set up by (Matt) Holsman's sacrifice bunt.  We live to play tomorrow.”

Please check back to www.fduknights.com to see who FDU will be playing on Saturday.  Also, post-game interviews and highlights will be posted on the website later this evening.