Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team opened Northeast Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Mount St. Mary's on Friday at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.  The Knights (8-7, 2-0 NEC) used excellent relief pitching by freshman Corey Zeller (Carroll, Ohio/Bloom Carroll) to hold off the Mountaineers (1-11, 0-2 NEC) in by a score of 4-3 in game one and then used offense to win the second game, 9-4.

GAME ONE
With FDU leading 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning, Zeller entered the game with runners on first and second and no one out.  He struck out the first batter he faced and then induced a 5-3 double play to end the inning with the lead intact.

After working out of the fifth, Zeller tossed a scoreless sixth, seventh and eighth to preserve the lead into the ninth inning.

Redshirt junior Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville) enter the game and worked a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the season.

Zeller threw four innings and allowed just one hit, while striking out two.  He did not issue a walk.

Offensively, the Knights plated a single run in the first inning as junior Matt McCann (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro ) doubled and stole third with one out before scoring on an RBI ground out by senior John Giakas (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville).

The Knights added two more runs in the bottom of the second on an infield single by freshman Craig Alleyne.  With runners on second and third Alleyne hit a ground ball to the left of the second baseman who ranged over and fielded the ball, but was unable to make a play on Alleyne at first.  Freshman Evan McDonald (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) scored from third on the hit and senior Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park) came home as the second baseman threw the ball to the pitcher covering first base.

The Mount tied the game in the top of the third, but FDU answered with what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the fourth.  With runners on second and third, with one out, senior Jose DeLeon (Paterson, N.J./Eastside) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score the go-ahead run and give the Knights a 4-3 lead.

The Knights collected eight hits as a team with McDonald and Sprague each picking up two.  DeLeon, Alleyne and Giakas each drove in a run for FDU.

Chad Diehl took the loss for Mount.  He falls to 1-3 on the season.

GAME TWO
FDU scored a run in the first inning on a walk and two stolen bases by McCann and a RBI ground out by Giakas.  The Knights plated three runs in the bottom of the second inning with two runs scoring on a double by McCann.

The Knights broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.  The big hit of the frame came from senior Patrick McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ) who lined a three-run double to center.
Mount answered with four runs in the top of the fifth inning.  Three of the runs came on a home run by right fielder Ryan Owens.

Freshman Chris Kachmar (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) started for the Knights and worked four scoreless innings before surrendering four runs in the top of the fifth.  The runs snapped a streak of 14 scoreless innings for Kachmar.  He earned the victory to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Freshman Tim Quinn (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) entered in relief and worked out of trouble in the fifth before tossing a scoreless sixth and seventh.

McClure finished the game with three hits and McCann collected two.  McCann added two stolen bases in the second game and finished with three on the day.
 
FDU and the Mount will complete the series with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.