Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TEANECK, N.J. -- For the second day in a row, the Fairleigh Dickinson baseball game was on the wrong end of its Northeast Conference doubleheader with Sacred Heart, as the Pioneers swept the Knights on Sunday at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. The visitors rallied in both contests, taking the seven-inning opener, 3-2, before coming back from three runs down in the nightcap to pull out a 9-7 victory. With the victories, Sacred Heart improves to 14-9 (4-0 NEC) on the season, while the Knights fall to 6-15 (0-4 NEC) overall.

"In spite of how bad we played, we made numerous mistakes all weekend long and three of the four games we were right there to record wins, so we certainly had opportunities," Head Coach Gary Puccio said. "We have to straighten out the mistakes, and if we do that, we will have a shot. We can't be making the same mistakes over and over again because they are just killer and most of them are mental mistakes. Pitchers can't be 0-2 and walk a guy, and hitters have to recognize when it is an offensive situation. We are just not doing the right thing. Our approach is bad."

Both teams scored one run with two outs in the first inning of the first game. Connor McEvoy gave the Pioneers the lead with an RBI single to center field, before junior Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) tied the contest at 1-1 when he plated sophomore Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park) with an RBI sacrifice fly to left field.

Each side had runners in scoring position in the second but failed to score, and Sacred Heart looked primed to take the lead in the top of the third with a runner on third and one out. But junior Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) had other ideas when he caught a fly ball in right field for the second out and gunned down the runner at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

Moonan came through again for FDU in the bottom of the third when he drove home freshman Matt McCann (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro ) from second base with an RBI single to center field to put the Knights in front, 2-1. FDU would eventually put runners on second and third later in the inning but could not tack on.

Junior Ryan MacDonald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Trees), who made his first career conference start on the bump, started the fourth with two quick groundouts but ran into trouble when he yielded a two-out single, balked the runner to second and allowed an RBI double to Jake Friar, which tied the game at 2-2. After a wild pitch advanced Friar to third, MacDonald got a groundout to end the frame.

Later on in the top of the sixth, junior Yonah Perline (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Dominic) relieved fellow classmate Joe Borelli (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan ), who pitched a scoreless fifth. Perline got the first batter to groundout but gave up a one-out triple to left field, prompting junior Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) to come into the game to pitch. He induced a groundball back to the mound for the second out, but the next batter, Matt Charmello, hit a first-pitch blooper down the right-field line that got past a diving Siebler in right, resulting in an RBI triple and a 3-2 lead for Sacred Heart.

The Knights could not get anything going over their final two at bats and dropped the opener, 3-2.

MacDonald showed guts in his 4.0 innings of work. After issuing two first-inning walks, the southpaw allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out three. Perline (0-1) was charged with the loss in his one-third of an inning on the mound.

Jason Foley earned the victory for the Pioneers after tossing 5+ innings. He allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits, walked one and struck out four. James Cooksey did not allow a hit over the final two innings en route to picking up the save.

Moonan and McCann both went 2-for-2 to lead FDU's seven-hit effort. Moonan had both RBI, while McCann scored a run and collected his fourth stolen base of the season.

Sacred Heart finished with eight hits, as Jesus Medina, McEvoy and Charmello all had two safeties.

The second game started out just like the first, with both teams scoring a run with two outs in the first inning. The Pioneers' Jason Sullivan made it 1-0 when he beat out an RBI infield single, before redshirt sophomore Patrick McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ) drove home Sprague with an RBI single to right field that scored Sprague.

After Knights' starter John Chalupa (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) escaped trouble in the top of the second, FDU went to work in the bottom half of the frame and scored three times to take a 4-1 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, Moonan delivered a two-run single to right-center field, scoring sophomore Ryan McGrath (Lansingburgh, N.Y./Lansingburgh) and Sprague. Sophomore John Giakas (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) then hit a groundball to shortstop, who threw errantly to first base, resulting in Giakas reaching safely and letting Siebler score from third.

Over the next two innings, both sides placed runners in scoring position but came up empty. However, in the top of the fifth, Sacred Heart scored three times to knot the game at 4-4. Chalupa started the inning by issuing a walk and was relieved by junior Brendan Butler (W. Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), who got Sullivan to strike out for the first out, but on the play, Zack Short stole second. After McEvoy walked, Short stole third and McEvoy advanced to second on a wild pitch, setting up Keith Klebart, who knocked a two-run double to left-center field to make it 4-3. Butler was then able to get a groundout to shortstop for the second out, but Derick Horn would tie the game with an RBI double down the left-field line.

The visitors would take the lead for good with an unearned run in the top of the seventh to go in front, 5-4, on Horn's RBI sacrifice fly to left field.

FDU's defense let the Knights down in the top of the eighth, as Sacred Heart scored three unearned runs to extend its advantage to 8-4. Snyder, who came in relief into a jam in the seventh, had runners on the corners and one out. On a safety squeeze attempt by Sullivan, Snyder had trouble fielding the bunt despite having enough time to get the runner out at home, and everyone was safe on the play. After a failed pickoff attempt advanced runners to second and third, FDU was forced to bring the infield in. Snyder was able to get a groundball to Sprague at second base, but his throw home was in the dirt, allowing the runner to score. The visitors then capped the scoring in the frame with another safety squeeze.

Offensively, the Knights were not done, as they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Sprague somewhat made amends when he stroked a two-run double to the right-center field gap, with McClure and sophomore Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville) scoring to make it 8-6, before Siebler ended the inning with a fly out to deep right field.

The Pioneers scored yet another unearned run in the top of the ninth with two outs when McCann bobbled a groundball to short, which allowed the runner to score from third.

Moonan homered over the center-field fence to lead off the bottom of the ninth, his second of the season, but FDU went down in order after that, as Sacred Heart held on for the victory while sweeping the four-game-conference-opening series.

The Knights pounded out 12 hits in the game, as Sprague, Siebler and Moonan combined to go 8-for-15 with four runs and five RBI batting 1-2-3 in the order. Sprague and Moonan both went 3-for-5, while Siebler and McClure each went 2-for-5. Moonan added three RBI and a stolen base, and Sprague tallied two runs and two RBI.

On the mound, Chalupa went 4+ innings and gave up two earned runs on five hits, walked four and struck out two. Junior Anthony Calise (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) (0-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up one unearned run in his 1.0 inning of relief. The bullpen combined to give up seven runs, with just two being earned.

Pioneers' starter Nick Leiningen lasted only 2.0 innings, as FDU scored four runs, three earned, on six hits off the lefty. But Nick Morrissey, who came in relief to start the third, shut the Knights down over the next 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits while walking none and striking out five en route to the victory. Cooksey pitched the final 1.1 innings to record his second save of the day.

Horn led Sacred Heart's 11-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Klebart added two hits and three RBI.

The Knights will look to bounce back next weekend when they travel to Staten Island, N.Y. to take on Wagner in a four-game series starting on Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. The Seahawks split their conference-opening series at LIU Brooklyn this weekend by winning games one and three.