Box Score

TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped the opening contest of its four-game set with Monmouth, 8-2, Friday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. With the victory, the Hawks improve to 22-14 (13-4 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 6-25 (2-15 NEC) overall.

The visitors sent 11 men to the plate in the first inning and scored six times off freshman Nick Cuono (Hawthorne, N.J./Montvale Saint Joseph ) (2-5), who lasted only 0.2 innings. Senior Craig Warner (Coral Springs, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) came on to relieve Cuono and pitched the next 6.1 innings, allowing only two unearned runs with two outs in the fifth inning. He scattered seven hits, walked one and struck out one.

FDU had scoring chances in the fourth and sixth innings but failed to score until plating runs in the eighth and ninth innings to make the final score 8-2. Senior Kyle Weeks (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) drove home sophomore Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) with a two-out RBI single for the first run, while sophomore Jordan Ritz (Newport News, Va./Woodside) singled home fellow classmate Jack Loftus (Dumore, Pa./Dunmore) for the final tally.

The Knights collected seven hits on the day, with Loftus leading the way with a 2-for-4 effort, which included a double and a run.

Monmouth ace Andrew McGee went the distance for the Hawks en route to improving to 7-1 on the season. The southpaw allowed two earned runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out nine.

Monmouth pounded out 12 hits, with lead-off man Steve Wilgus leading the way with three hits and four RBI, including a solo home run to begin the game.

The two sides will return to action on Saturday with a pair of seven-inning contests. First pitch for game one of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.