Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped a pair of games to LIU Brooklyn, 5-1 and 5-3 at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex on Sunday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Blackbirds (21-24, 11-11 NEC) move up to third place in the NEC standings, while the Knights (12-30, 8-14 NEC) remain in sixth with four games to go.
 
Prior to the game, the Knights' four seniors – Ryan Brennan, Danny Demetrops, Logan Frati and Matt McCann – were honored for their hard work and contributions to the FDU baseball program.
 
Playing their final two home games, Brennan totaled five hits and two RBI, while McCann finished with three hits and two stolen bases.
 
Game One: LIU Brooklyn 5, FDU 1
The Blackbirds put together a two-out rally in the first by scoring three runs and jumped out to an early lead.
 
Back-to-back singles by Harrison Preschel and Anthony Capo provided the runs off of FDU right-hander Logan Frati. Frati retired the first two men he faced but then hit the next two batters before allowing the run-scoring singles.
 
The senior right-hander settled in after that and held the Blackbirds to two runs over his final five innings of work. Making his last collegiate start at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex, Frati struck out two and walked two across his six innings of work.
 
Senior shortstop Matt McCann led off the home first with a single and then stole his 73^rd career base to advance into scoring position with nobody out. Fellow senior Ryan Brennan plated him with a single through the left side and made it a 3-1 ballgame.
 
However, from that point on, Blackbirds starter Nick Freijomil settled in and prevented the Knights from scoring over his final 4.1 innings. Frejomil pitched out of jams in nearly every inning but managed to strand seven Knights over his 5.1 innings of work.
 
The Knights had two on with one out in the eighth, which chased Frejomil from the game but LIU Brooklyn reliever Mike Kreiger struck out the next two batters to escape the jam.
 
Brennan paced the Knights in the loss with three of the team's five hits and the lone RBI.
 
Game Two: LIU Brooklyn 5, FDU 3 (10 innings)
 
Game two saw the Blackbirds grab a 3-0 lead with a run in each of the first three frames. FDU right-hander Corey Zeller was able to settle in after the third and kept the Blackbirds off of the board over his final six frames. The sophomore right-hander struck out five across his nine innings of work and earned a no decision.
 
A throwing error by the LIU Brooklyn shortstop in the bottom of the third allowed the Knights to net their first run of the game as Mike Veit crossed the plate.
 
In the fifth, Brennan sliced a 2-1 offering into the right-center field gap, which plated Bobby Romano and made it a 3-2 game.
 
A double by Veit and single by McCann allowed Romano to tie the game with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and the game remained knotted through the scheduled nine innings.
 
Both teams put a runner in scoring position in the ninth but were unable to net the go-ahead run.
 
With the bases loaded in the top of the 10^th, the Knights turned to Brennan to escape the jam. The senior right-hander fired a fastball in on the hands of left-handed hitting Joe Curcio, who managed to fight off the pitch and bloop it into left field, resulting in a two-run single, and what proved to be the difference.
 
Brennan hit a one-out double in the bottom of the inning, which brought the tying run to the plate but for the second straight game, Kreiger was able to shut the door and seal the victory for the Blackbirds.
 
Veit and fellow freshman outfielder Brandon Seltzer each finished with two hits in the loss, while McCann was 2-for-5 with a stolen base. In his final home game, Brennan was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
 
The Knights close out the 2017 regular season with four games at Central Connecticut State beginning this Friday, May 19.