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Box Score 2 BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Sacred Heart on Thursday afternoon at the Ballpark at Harbor Yards. The Knights (6-11, 0-2 NEC) and Pioneers (5-14-1, 2-0 NEC) will continue their series with single games on Friday and Saturday.
Sacred Heart won the first game by a score of 8-6 and then edged out a 5-4 victory in game two.
Senior
Riley Moonan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero North) went four-for-seven at the plate over the two games and drove in a pair of runs. Junior
John Giakas (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) also had a good day at the plate collecting three hits.
GAME ONE – SHU 8, FDU 6Moonan delivered a two-out single to score junior Pat McClure and tie the game at 6-6 in the eighth inning. McClure had singled to open the inning and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Giakas.
The Knights had scored three runs in the fifth inning with the first two on a RBI double by senior
Shane Siebler (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area). After a walk to sophomore
Matt McCann (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro ) and a wild pitch, Siebler came in to score on a sacrifice fly by junior
Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park). The sac fly gave the Knights a 3-2 lead.
FDU then added to its lead on sixth inning RBI singles by Giakas and Moonan.
Sacred Heart scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning off FDU starter
Joe Borelli (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan ) and then plated a third run in the sixth. The Pioneers added three runs in the bottom of the seventh to grab a 6-5 lead.
After FDU tied the game in the eighth, the Pioneers quickly responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-2 lead.
Senior
Yonah Perline (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Dominic) started the inning, but was lifted for senior
Eric Snyder (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) with two outs and runners on second and third. Snyder allowed a base hit to the first batter he faced, which scored both runners and gave Sacred Heart a two-run lead.
Perline takes the loss and falls to 0-2 on the season. He pitched 1.2 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits.
Borelli pitched six innings and limited the Pioneers to three runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out four batters and did not factor in the decision.
James Cooksey (2-1) earned the victory for Sacred Heart with four innings of relief.
Moonan finished the game with three hits and two runs batted in. Siebler also drove in a pair of runs in the game, while Giakas posted two hits, an RBI and a run scored.
GAME TWO – SHU 5, FDU 4Junior
Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville) plated two runs with a one-out double in the top of the seventh inning, but FDU's comeback bid fell just short as the Pioneers were able to strand the tying run at third base with back-to-back Knight hitters grounding out.
The Knights struck first in the second game scoring a single run on a base hit by sophomore
Chris Grupp (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands College Park) in the second inning. The hit scored Moonan who had reached base on a single with one out in the frame.
The Pioneers answered with a single run in the bottom of the second and then scored a pair of unearned runs in the third inning. The pioneers scored their fourth run of the game on a solo home run by PJ DeFilippo.
A RBI single by Sprague in the top of the fifth cut the deficit to 4-2, but the Pioneers answered again with a single run in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Sophomore
Joe Flack (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) takes the loss and falls to 0-1 on the season. Flack tossed 4.2 innings and allowed five runs, but just three earned. He surrendered six hits and walked three. Senior
Anthony Calise (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) pitched the final 1.1 innings and retired all four batters he faced.
Robbie Maguire (1-2) was credited with the victory for Sacred Heart.
The series will resume with a single seven inning game on Friday. The teams will then play a single nine inning game on Saturday.
