Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped both ends of its doubleheader with LIU Brooklyn on Saturday at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. The Knights dropped the opener, 9-3, before coming up short in the seven-inning nightcap, 4-2. With the victories LIU improve to 9-20 (5-5 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 4-23 (1-13 NEC) overall.

In the opener, LIU scored all the runs it would need in a five-run third inning before scoring two more in the top of the sixth to take a 7-0 lead.

Early on in the bottom of the second, FDU had runners on second and third with two outs but failed to score. In the third, fourth and fifth innings, Knights' rallies ended with double plays.

FDU got on the scoreboard with a three-run sixth inning to cut the deficit to 7-3. Sophomore Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside) doubled to right-center with one out and came around to score on freshman John Giakas (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville)' two-out RBI infield single. After FDU loaded the bases, freshman Ryan McGrath (Lansingburgh, N.Y./Lansingburgh) went the opposite way with a sharp groundball through the right side to plate freshman Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park) and Giakas, but Roman was thrown out at third on a bizarre play to end the threat.

The Blackbirds scored single runs in the seventh and ninth innings to take the contest, 9-3.

The Knights collected 11 hits, with Giakas, Roman and McGrath picking up a pair each, while McGrath drove home two.

Freshman Nick Cuono (Hawthorne, N.J./Montvale Saint Joseph ) (2-4) was charged with the loss on the mound and pitched well overall minus the five-run third inning. The FDU starter was touched for seven earned runs on 11 hits, walked one and struck out one in 5.1 innings of work.

The Knights stranded seven base runners and did not help themselves by grounding into three double plays.

LIU ace Justin Topa went the distance, scattering 11 hits while allowing three earned runs. He walked two and struck out four.

Blackbirds' lead-off batter Pete Leonello paced LIU's 18-hit attack with a 4-for-5 performance, which included two runs and an RBI.

In game two, FDU once again put runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the second and failed to score.

The Blackbirds struck first in the top of the third with a pair of two-out runs to take a 2-0 lead. Leonello drove home the first run with an RBI single, and the second run scored when Kevin Needham walked with the bases loaded.

But the Knights quickly answered in the bottom half of the frame to tie the game, 2-2. Sophomore Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) picked up his NEC-leading fourth triple to start the inning, and fellow classmate Ryan MacDonald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Trees) followed with a towering two-run home run over the right-center field fence, the first of his career, to tie the contest.

After retiring the first two batters in the fifth, sophomore starter Brendan Butler (W. Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) ran into trouble, as he walked two guys and hit a batter to load the bases. Fellow classmate Anthony Calise (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) came into relieve Butler and plunked Tito Marrero on a 3-2 pitch to score the runner from third and give LIU a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Marrero gave the Blackbirds a big insurance run with a two-out double down the left-field line to extend the visitors advantage to 4-2. FDU was then retired in its last at-bat.

Butler (1-6) was tagged with the loss and only allowed four hits and three earned runs but issued seven walks while striking out two over 4.2 innings.

Five different players picked up a hit for the Knights, with MacDonald delivering the big blow with the two-run homer.

LIU finished the game with seven hits, as Leonello and Kyle Demarco each recorded two safeties batting 1-2 in the order.

Blackbirds' starter Jordan Wilcox allowed two earned runs on five hits, walked one and struck out two in the complete-game effort.

“I feel like we are playing better, and I think defensively we definitely are playing a lot better and playing more like the way we should play,” Head Coach Gary Puccio said. “The pitchers are walking way too many guys, and we are not getting any timely hitting. Those things are catching up to us.”

The two sides will return to action on Sunday with another twinbill. Game one will be seven innings and is slated to begin at 1 p.m., while the series finale will be nine innings and start approximately 30 minutes after the first game.