Box Score

The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team defeated Mount St. Mary's, 4-1, on senior day Sunday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex in Teaneck, NJ.  With the victory, the Knights improve to 23-23-1 (17-11 NEC) on the season, while the Mount falls to 14-36 (7-21 NEC) overall.

FDU now has a magic number of one to clinch a spot in the NEC playoffs.  One win next weekend at LIU Brooklyn or one loss by Wagner at first-place Bryant will solidify a date for the Knights in the postseason, which would be their trip to the playoffs since 1999.

Fittingly, senior co-captain Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) (7-3) pitched tremendous in his final game at home.  The righty went the distance for his fourth complete game of the season en route to picking up his seventh victory.  The righty allowed one earned run on five hits, while walking three, striking out four and hitting one batter. 

The Mount's Chris Campbell was tagged with the loss on the mound as he went 7.0 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits, while walking three and striking out one.

The Knights only managed seven hits on the day with junior Eric Anderson (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands) going 2-for-3 with his team-leading eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot over the right-field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning the break a scoreless tie. 

Over the first 5.5 innings, neither team could put a run on the board as the pitching on both sides dominated.  FDU had runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings but could not push a run cross the plate.

After Eliasen retired the side in the top of the sixth, freshman Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside) singled to center field to start the bottom half of the frame.  With one out, Anderson ripped a 2-0 pitch over the fence to put the Knights up 2-0.

Eliasen ran into trouble in the top of the seventh after allowing a double and a single to start the inning, putting runners on the corners with nobody out.  After a passed ball, Eliasen got a strike out for the first out.  With the infield playing back to trade an out for a run, the Mount's Andrew Clow made the score 2-1 with a RBI groundout to second base.  Eliasen was able to leave the tying run stranded at third when he fielded a weak comebacker to the mound that ended the inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, senior Matt Holsman (Coral Springs, FL/Stoneman Douglas) stroked a double down the left-field line.  On the play, the left fielder had trouble picking up the ball, which allowed fellow classmate JT Sherba (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) to score all the way from first, extending the lead to 3-1.

Junior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) capped the FDU scoring in the bottom of the eighth with a bomb over the left-center field fence for his second home run in as many days.  Weeks' fourth home run of the season gave the Knights a 4-1 lead.

Eliasen closed the door on the Mount in the top of the ninth to give FDU a 4-1 victory and a split in the series.

“Another great job by Mike Eliasen (Swedesboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and Anderson came up big with a home run,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said.  “Again, the team found a way to get it done.  It looks like we are on the verge of something very special.”

The Knights will conclude their regular season next weekend with a four-game series at LIU Brooklyn.  Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m. in Brooklyn, NY.