TEANECK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped a pair of games to Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon, falling 5-2 in game one and 5-1 in game two at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.

Game One: CCSU 5, Fairleigh Dickinson 2

The Knights held a 2-0 lead in the opening game of the day but the Blue Devils would rally back to tie in the eighth before taking the lead in the ninth. 

In the home second, freshman right fielder Connor Stanton followed a Peter Theodorellis walk with a double, then Brandon Seltzer delivered a long sacrifice fly to net the Knights' first run. Junior backstop Evan McDonald singled through the left side of the infield to knock in Stanton and gave the Knights the 2-0 edge.

Freshman right-hander Chris Quijano was stellar through his first four innings as he kept the CCSU lineup at bay but he was unable to get through the fifth. The Blue Devils began the top of the fifth frame with back-to-back one-out singles and after a line out, Quijano appeared poised to escape unscathed. However, a nine-pitch at bat against CCSU's Mitch Guilmette ended with the Blue Devil lining an RBI double to centerfield. 

Fellow freshman Evan Raiburn came on in relief of Quijano and struck out the next batter to preserve the Knights' one-run lead. Raiburn was excellent early on as he retired seven of the first eight Blue Devils he faced before running into a jam in the top of the eighth. 

With one man on, the Blue Devils put together a two-out rally against the Knights right-hander and scratched across the tying run when Dylan Maher delivered a pinch-hit single. Freshman Trent Valentine relieved Raiburn and recorded the final out of the inning. 

Freshman third baseman Corbin Dunnuck led off the home eighth with a single and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch but the Knights were unable to break through as reliever Jared Gallagher went on to strike out the next three batters.

In the top of the ninth, Dunnuck faced one batter and allowed a single. Another freshman, Austin Crebs came on for Dunnuck and allowed another single before earning back-to-back strikeouts. Crebs was one strike away from keeping the game knotted but CCSU's Buddy Dewaine came through with the key blow -- a two-run double to left center, which proved to be the game-winning knock. The Blue Devils tacked on an insurance run with a double by Peyton Stephens and Gallagher set down the side in the home half to finalize the victory.

Stanton tallied two of the Knights' five hits in the loss and made two outstanding catches in right field. Second baseman Chandler Debrosse paced a 13-hit attack by the Blue Devils with three knocks in the win.

CCSU starter Mike Appel struck out 12 Knights across his 6.2 innings of work but earned a no decision.


Game Two: CCSU 5, Fairleigh Dickinson 1
Junior right-hander Corey Zeller took the ball for the Knights in game two and matched CCSU southpaw Andrew Braun with three scoreless frames to begin the game. Zeller struck out four Blue Devils in a row between the second and third innings but both offenses would break into the run column in the fourth.

Guilmette launched a solo homer in the top of the inning before the Knights tied the contest in the bottom. Steven Yelin led off with a walk and would score on two-out double by Stanton.

Stephens began the fifth with another solo shot off of Zeller, which put the Blue Devils back in front. With two outs, the Blue Devils came through with back-to-back knocks, including a two RBI double from Debrosse, which enhanced the lead to 4-1.

The Knights would fail to score again as Arik Sypher came on in relief of Braun and pitched four scoreless frames to net his first save of the season. Braun struck out six across the first five and moved to 3-0 on the season.

These two teams close out the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Prior to first pitch, the Knights will honor seniors Jason Fatzinger and Joe Flack with the annual senior day ceremony.