HACKENSACK, NJ -  The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team split a pair of decisions against Bryant in their NEC home opener Friday afternoon, winning game one 2-0 before dropping game two by a final of 12-6.  The win and loss moves the Knights to 8-17 on the season, including a 1-1 mark in NEC play. 

The Knights return to action tomorrow when they host Central Connecticut in a double header beginning at 1 p.m. 

Game One: Fairleigh Dickinson 2, Bryant 0

Another strong outing for pitcher Baylee Ports in the circle helped propel the Knights to a win in their conference opener against the Bulldogs.  The junior hurler scattered five hits and struck out five over seven innings of shutout ball to earn her third victory of the season. 

The first three innings of game one moved at a lightning pace, as Ports and her Bryant counterpart Gabrielle Ermish both moved efficiently through the lineup as both offenses struggled to find their footing early on. 

Ports struck out a pair in the top of the first while Ermish managed to work out a jam safely after Madison Emerson walked and Serena Meehan reached safely on an error. 

FDU finally managed to open the scoring in the top of the fourth after Reanna Cervantes smashed a double off the center-field wall that scored Holly Mercier from second. Following a 1-2-3 inning from Ports to start the fifth, Summer Mendoza again put a Knight in scoring position with a booming double to left, however Ermish fanned Logan Kolehmainen to earn the third out and prevent FDU from adding to its lead. 

The Bulldogs had their best chance to equalize in the sixth after Ermish drew a walk before pinch runner Sabrina Crane stole second, however Ports recovered once again, striking out Alexa Hickey and getting Rachel Monroe to pop up to left for the final out of the inning. 

Cervantes added the all-important insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with another RBI double as FDU held on for the win.  Cervantes went 2-3 at the plate with both of the Knights RBI's. 

Game Two: Bryant 12, Fairleigh Dickinson 6 

It didn't take nearly as long for the offenses to get going the second time around, as the Knights and Bulldogs combined for 27 hits and 18 runs over eight innings. 

Cervantes kept the hot bat going in game two, opening the scoring for FDU with a solo blast to center field in the bottom of the second to put FDU up 1-0 early. 

Bryant was finally able to muster a response at the plate however, and in the top of the second took the lead for the first time on the afternoon after Kaleigh Goulart smashed a homer of her own, a two-run blast over the left field wall.  

After starting pitcher Abby England struck out two to get out of the top of the fourth, FDU went to work at the plate once again, first going up 3-2 on a Mercier single before England singled to score two more.  

Both squads went back and forth the remainder of the game, trading off timely rallies and a couple of clutch hits as the game moved into extra innings.  After Bryant added an insurance run to make it 6-4, the Knights were down to their final three outs of the game in the bottom of the 7th, however they rallied once again, driving in two runs to tie the game with two outs.  Rylie Schmeh found herself at the plate with a chance to walk it off for the Knights with Mercier on third, however Schmeh could not manage to find a gap, flying out to left field instead. 

The top of the eighth saw the Bryant bats explode with their biggest offensive outpouring of the game, posting a dominant six runs off of seven hits to blow the game wide open and steal back a victory 12-6.