Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped both games of its doubleheader against Bryant on Saturday afternoon, falling 16-0 and 11-7 at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.
 
The Knights (8-19, 0-9 NEC) responded to the lopsided game-one result with a spirited effort in game two as they nearly erased a seven-run deficit before ultimately falling by four.
 
After the team tallied four hits in game one, the Knights picked up the pace in game two with senior Jason Fatzinger and freshman Steven Yelin each tallying a pair of hits.
 
Freshman second baseman Ryan Ward led the Bulldogs (17-14-1, 9-4 NEC) in both games with a combined 7-for-11 performance on the day.
 
Game One: Fairleigh Dickinson 0, Bryant 16
 
In the first game, the Bulldogs led 6-0 after two innings and never looked back.
 
Ward went 4-for-6 with four RBIs and a run scored to lead a 19-hit attack by the Bulldogs in the seven-inning contest.
 
The Knights totaled four hits in the loss as Fatzinger, Yelin, Joe O'Rourke and Oliver Tavares accounted for one knock apiece.
 
Ward, who has been a thorn in the Knights' side all series long, led off the game with a solo blast. Leading 2-0 in the second, Ward struck again, this time with a two-run single up the middle. First baseman Chris Wright, who was 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs in the contest, followed Ward with a run-scoring single to make it a 6-0 game.
 
The Bulldogs broke the game open in the fourth with eight runs on six hits highlighted by shortstop Sam Owens' three-run blast.
 
Freshman right-hander Tyler Mattison kept the Knights off-balance throughout the game, tossing six shutout frames with five strikeouts and allowing three hits to improve to 3-1 on the campaign.
 
First-year right-hander Evan Raiburn took the loss for the Knights, allowing 10 hits and eight earned across his three innings of work.
 
 
Game Two: Fairleigh Dickinson 7, Bryant 11
 
Game two saw junior right-hander Corey Zeller take the ball for the Knights and battle against the hot-hitting Bulldogs lineup.
 
Zeller fought through five innings, notching four strikeouts, while allowing six earned on 13 hits.
 
The Knights right-hander allowed three extra-base hits in the first inning but escaped unscathed thanks in part to a great relay from left fielder Mike Veit to the shortstop Tavares to third baseman Corbin Dunnuck, which cut down Ward, who was attempting to stretch a double into a triple.
 
After back-to-back doubles, Zeller retired the next two in order and kept the Bulldogs at bay.
 
Owens would account for the Bulldogs' first two runs with a pair of run-scoring singles in the second and fourth inning, respectively.
 
Bryant stretched its lead to 6-0 with four more runs in the fifth via a two-run double by first baseman Chris Wright and an RBI single by Gaby Cruz.
 
Fatzinger netted the Knights' first two runs with a line-drive single to left field, which plated Yelin and Peter Theodorellis.
 
In the sixth, with the bases loaded and nobody out, Veit made another stellar defensive play to chase down a fly ball and throw out the runner, who was tagging up from third base. FDU catcher Evan McDonald secured the one-hop throw and applied the tag to complete the double play. But with two away, Tyler Panno provided a key blow for his team with a bases-clearing, three-run double to left field, which made it a 9-2 game.
 
With patient plate discipline, the Knights chipped into the lead by scoring five runs on just one hit in the home half of the inning. Brandon Seltzer and Yelin and Brad Levinson was hit by a pitch before Matt Armendinger earned a walk to plate the first run.
 
The pinch-hitter O'Rouke drew a bases-loaded walk to net the next run before the next batter, James Donlon laced a liner into the right-center field gap for a two-run double.
 
The Knights would get one more on an RBI groundout by Tavares, which sliced the deficit to 9-7.
 
After the Bulldogs tacked on two more in the top of the seventh, the team's junior closer Nathan Wrighter completed a five-out save by shutting the door in the bottom of the inning. Wrighter's save was his fifth of the season.
 
Fatzinger finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the loss, while Yelin scored twice in a 2-for-3 effort.
 
Next Up:
These two teams close out the four-game series tomorrow. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.