Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped both ends of its doubleheader with Lafayette on Sunday at a frigid Naimoli Family Baseball Complex, with each contest lasting seven innings. The Leopards rallied to take the opener, 11-4, before taking the nightcap, 6-2. With the victories, Lafayette sweeps the three-game series and improves to 5-4 on the season, while the Knights fall to 3-6 overall.

FDU looked destined to win the first game after opening up a 4-0 lead after three innings. In the bottom of the first, junior Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) stroked a one-out double to the left-center field gap to score leadoff man Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park) for the first run. With two outs, freshman Zach Tondi (Wood-Ridge, N.J./Bergen County Technical) singled home Moonan to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.

The Leopards loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second, but junior starter Brendan Butler (W. Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) stuck out the next three to escape the jam.
In the bottom of the third, FDU loaded the bases with the first three hitters, before sophomore Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville)'s RBI fielder's choice scored Moonan. Fellow classmate Joel Roman (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) then delivered an RBI sacrifice fly to left field to make it 4-0.

With two outs in the fourth, Lafayette plated four unearned runs to deadlock the game at 4-4. The rally started on an unfortunate throwing error by Butler after a comebacker to the mound, as his errant throw to first base sailed past first baseman Ryan MacDonald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Trees), which scored the first run of the inning. The Leopards then constructed back-to-back-run-scoring singles to tie the contest.

Junior Anthony Calise (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) relieved Butler to start the top of the sixth, and with two outs, he yielded a first-pitch RBI double down the left-field line to Andrew Santomauro, who then scored on Parker Hill's two-bagger to left-center field, which gave Lafayette a 6-0 lead that it would never relinquish.

The Leopards would put the game away in the seventh with five more runs to take the opener, 11-4.

Butler struck out seven and walked two while allowing seven hits and four unearned runs in his 5.0 innings of work. Calise (0-1) was charged with the loss after giving up two earned runs on two hits in only 0.2 innings of relief.

Cory Spera picked up the victory in relief for the Lafayette, as he shut down the Knights in his 2.1 innings of work by striking out two and not allowing a hit. Ari Kaufman recorded the save with his one-hit effort over the final 2.0 innings. FDU tagged starter Mitch Leeds for four earned runs on six hits over the first 2.2 innings.

Moonan and Tondi each had two hits to lead the Knights, with Moonan scoring two runs and stealing a base.

The Leopards collected 13 hits, as Tyler Hudson led the way with a 3-for-5, three-RBI effort. Santomauro added two hits, three RBI and two runs.

In the nightcap, neither side scored over the first three innings until Hudson led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run over the right-field fence to give the Lafayette a 1-0 lead. The visitors would score five more times in the frame to open up a 6-0 advantage.

FDU never threatened until the final inning when it scored twice to make the final 6-2. With two outs, sophomore Ryan McGrath (Lansingburgh, N.Y./Lansingburgh) walked, and Tondi followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Freshman Matt McCann (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro ) then delivered an RBI single to plate McGrath on an 0-2 pitch, before Roman singled to load the bases for junior Jose DeLeon (Paterson, N.J./Eastside), who singled home Tondi on an 0-2 pitch with a bloop single to left field. Junior Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) then came to the plate with the sacks packed as the tying run, but he grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

Knights' starter John Chalupa (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) (0-1) cruised through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. The junior was charged with five earned runs on four hits and registered a strikeout in his 3+ innings of work. Sophomore Nick Cuono (Hawthorne, N.J./Montvale Saint Joseph ), who relieved Chalupa in the fourth, tossed 3.0 innings of three-hit ball while allowing only one unearned run.

David Bednar picked up the victory for the Leopards after limiting FDU to only one hit in his 5.0 innings on the mound. He only needed 60 pitches to walk one and strike out five.

Roman and DeLeon both had two of the Knights' six hits in the contest, with DeLeon recording an RBI. Seven different Lafayette players recorded a hit, and five recorded one RBI, with six scoring one run.

FDU will return to action on Wednesday, March 12 when it travels to Queens, N.Y. to take on St. John's. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.