Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team earned its first Northeast Conference victory of the season on Saturday after splitting its seven-inning doubleheader with Wagner at Richmond County Bank Ballpark. The Knights dropped a tough 1-0 decision in the opener, before rallying for a 7-3 victory in the nightcap. With the split, FDU is now 7-17 (1-6 NEC) on the season, while the Seahawks go to 7-21 (4-3 NEC) overall.

The home team would score all the runs they would need in the bottom of the first in game one and doing it without recording a hit. After freshman starter Joe Flack (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys), who was returning home for this start, walked two batters with one out, Wagner's Chris Smith would steal third and score on Shaun Flynn's RBI sacrifice fly to right field.

The Knights, who had runners on first and second with one out in the top of the first before an inning-ending 4-6 lineout double play, would see their next 11 hitters going back to the top of the first, be retired until sophomore Joel Roman (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) singled with one out in the fifth. He would advance to second when freshman Zach Tondi (Wood-Ridge, N.J./Bergen County Technical) singled with two outs, but both runners were left stranded in FDU's last scoring opportunity of the contest.

Flack (0-5) suffered his second consecutive tough-luck loss on the mound. He allowed only two hits, with the first coming with one out in the bottom of the fifth, yielded the one earned run, walked four and struck out five in 5.1 innings of work. Junior Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) pitched the final two-thirds of an inning when he came into relief with one out in the bottom of the sixth.

Matt Morris went the distance for the Seahawks and limited the Knights to only four hits while walking one and striking out one en route to earning the victory.

Neither side would score over the first two innings in the second game, but Wagner would take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on Tommy Mazurkiewicz's RBI groundout

But the lead would be short-lived, as FDU erupted for five runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. Sophomore Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville) singled to lead off the frame and advanced to third on fellow classmate John Giakas (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville)'s double to right field. Tondi would follow with a first-pitch RBI single to right, as Brennan scored to tie the contest at 1-1.

Redshirt sophomore Patrick McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ) gave the Knights the lead with an RBI single to left field that plated Giakas, and Roman followed with an RBI ground-rule double to the right-center field gap to score Tondi. With two down in the inning, freshman Matt McCann (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro ) came through with the eventual game-winning hit, as his two-run single to right-center field scored both McClure and Roman.

After the Seahawks got a run back with an unearned run with one out in the bottom of the fourth on an error, FDU would answer in the top of the fifth with two more runs to extend its advantage to 7-2. Junior Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) singled home sophomore Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park) from second base with one out, before McClure knocked home Moonan with an RBI fielder's choice.

Wagner scored a single run in the bottom of the sixth on Nick Dini's RBI double with two outs, but it was not nearly enough, as the Knights held on for the victory.

FDU pounded out 14 hits, with eight of the nine starters collecting at least one safety. Brennan went a perfect 3-for-3 with a run, while Sprague, Giakas, Tondi and McClure all had two each and scored once. McClure and McCann both had two RBI.

Sophomore Ryan McGrath (Lansingburgh, N.Y./Lansingburgh) (2-0) earned the victory on the bump after pitching the final 3.2 innings out of the bullpen. He yielded one earned run on two hits, walked one and struck out two. Starter John Chalupa (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) tossed the first 3.1 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits, walked four and did not strike out a batter.

Danny Marsh was tagged with the loss after the Knights scored five earned runs on seven hits in his start, which lasted only 3.1 innings.

FDU will look to split the four-game series on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.