Box Score
NORWICH, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team fell to #1 seed Bryant in the championship of the 2016 Northeast Conference Tournament on Saturday night. The Knights finish the season with 28 victories and as the NEC Tournament runner-up. The 28 wins match FDU's program record for victories in a season, which was set by the 1993 team.
The Knights defeated Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon to secure their 28
th victory and their first trip to the championship round of the NEC Tournament since 1999.
In the championship, the Knights faced regular season champion and nationally ranked Bryant. The Bulldogs entered play on Saturday with the best winning percentage in the country, .821. Bryant clinched the NEC Tournament title and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with Saturday's 8-3 win. The Bulldogs also improved to 47-10 overall on the season.
The Knights had four individuals earn a place on the NEC All-Tournament Team: redshirt junior
Ryan Brennan (Mooresville, N.C./Mooresville), sophomore
Bobby Romano (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan ), sophomore
Jason Fatzinger (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) and freshman
Corey Zeller (Carroll, Ohio/Bloom Carroll).
Senior
John Chalupa (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) started and pitched the 5.2 innings, surrendering eight runs on six hits and five walks. He did strike out seven, but he drops to 0-5 on the season with the loss.
Junior
Danny Demetrops (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) pitched three scoreless innings of relief and allowed just three hits and zero walks, while striking out two.
Senior
Nick Cuono (Hawthorne, N.J./Montvale Saint Joseph ) entered with two outs in the ninth and retired the only batter he faced.
Seniors
Dylan Sprague (Brunswick, N.Y./Averill Park),
John Giakas (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) and
Patrick McClure (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius ) all had hits in the game.
Brennan went two-for-three in the game and scored two runs.
Romano and Fatzinger both had a RBI in the game.
Steve Theetge picked up the win with two runs over six innings. He is 9-0 on the season.
Justin Snyder picked up the save by pitching the final three innings. The save is his 10
th of the season.
The Knights finished with a .500 (28-28) winning percentage for the first time since 1994.
Giakas finishes the season with 70 hits, the second most in a single-season in program history, just one shy of Steven LaForge's school record 71 from 2010. His 13 home runs also rank second in FDU single season history.
All-Tournament Team
Brennan – Hit .500 (7-for-14) in the tournament with six runs scored and a save
Romano – Hit .538 (7-for-13) in the tournament with six RBI and three runs scored
Fatzinger – Hit .429 (6-for-14) in the tournament with a team-high seven RBI
Zeller – Pitched 7.1 innings of shutout baseball to defeat CCSU in an elimination game
