Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

DOVER, Del. – Head Coach Gary Puccio notched his 126^th and 127^th wins as skipper of the Knights as the Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team swept a twin bill at Delaware State on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Knights (2-4) claimed a pair of one-run victories, taking the opening 5-4 and the second game 6-5 over the Hornets (2-10).
 
With the two wins, Puccio moves into third all-time on the FDU list surpassing John Orsino, who spent eight seasons at the helm of the program.
 
Game 1: Fairleigh Dickinson 5, Delaware State 4
In their first game of the day, the Knights fell behind in the first inning after Devenney Maisonet deposited a solo blast over the right field fence.

The Knights responded immediately in the top of the second by plating two runs to take the early lead. Junior catcher Evan McDonald led off with a single and then scored on a base hit by Jason Fatzinger. Two batters later, Fatzinger came home when freshman Adam Frank hit a two-out single to right field.
 
Freshman right-hander Evan Raiburn started for the Knights and pitched around a pair of walks in the home second to maintain the one-run edge. Raiburn received another tally from his offense in the top of the third when senior shortstop Bobby Romano knocked in sophomore center fielder Brandon Seltzer with a base hit. Seltzer had led off the frame with a double.
 
The Knights' lead would not hold as the home team scored one in the third, one in the fourth and eventually went in front 4-3 after a fifth-inning, infield single by John Weglarz.
 
Still trailing by one in the top of the seventh, the Knights began their rally. Freshman first baseman Steven Yelin led off with a walk and then Seltzer was hit by a pitch. Last year's All-NEC honoree, sophomore Mike Veit followed with a run-scoring single through the right side of the infield and then promptly stole second base.
 
Some swift baserunning by the Knights on a wild pitch saw Seltzer scamper home with the go-ahead run, which proved to be the difference in the win.
 
Right-hander Joe Flack came on in the bottom of the inning to nail down his first save of the season. Classmate Dillon Forsythe (1-0) earned the victory by pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball, in which he struck out two.
 
Fatzinger, Veit and Frank were the offensive stars for FDU as they each logged two hits in the win.
 
Game 2: Fairleigh Dickinson 6, Delaware State 5
The second half of the double dip saw the Knights escape with another one-run victory and freshman right-hander Trent Valentine net his first collegiate win.
 
Veit continued his surge by plating Frank as the game's first run in the top half of the first inning. In the third, the Knights added to their lead when Romano knocked home Veit with a double and then McDonald delivered the key blow, a two-run blast over the left field fence – his second of the season – which gave the Knights a 4-0 lead.
 
An FDU error started a two-run home third for the Hornets – both runs would be unearned as they sliced the Knights lead in half. The first run crossed on a wild pitch and the second on a groundout by third baseman Miguel Rivera.
 
The Knights would erase those runs in the fourth by tacking on two of their own. Fatzinger opened the frame with a double down the left field line and would later score on a wild pitch.
 
Back-to-back singles by Frank and Jason Ortiz set up Veit for an RBI single, which made it a 6-2 game in favor of the Burgundy & Blue.
 
The Hornets would mount a rally in the sixth with a run-scoring single by Rivera and a two-run home run by Cole Garey to pull to within one, 6-5. However, Valentine buckled down and struck out Maisonet and induced an inning-ending flyout to escape the jam.
 
For the second time on the afternoon, Puccio turned to Flack to shut the door and the fifth-year senior answered the bell. After allowing the first two men to reach, Flack settled in. Flack's catcher McDonald picked off the runner at second base for the first out, then Flack netted a fielder's choice and then struck out Rivera to end the ball game and strand the tying and winning runs.
 
Valentine's final line was six innings, five strikeouts, five hits, three earned and two walks. Offensively, Veit was again the key as he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored while Romano and Frank each logged multi-hit efforts.
 
The Knights return to action this Tuesday, March 13 when they take on Hofstra.