TEANECK, N.J. -- Despite a surging start by the Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team, the Pioneers of Sacred Heart rallied late in the game to take the first game of the series 10-8 on Friday afternoon.  

Evan McDonald started things off for the Knights in the bottom of the first inning, as the junior punched his seventh home run of the season to right field, to give FDU the early 1-0 lead.  

Connor Stanton continued the push as he started off the bottom of the third inning with a solo shot to left field to give The Burgundy and Blue a 2-0 lead. In the same inning, after Peter Theodorellis singled up the middle and McDonald was hit by a pitch, Jason Fatzinger hit a three-run shot to dead center to extend the lead to 5-0. 

In the bottom of the fourth, the No. 2 and No. 3 hitters for the Knights added to the lead, as McDonald and Fatzinger again extended the lead with back-to-back RBI singles to extend the lead to 7-0 after four.  

Having shut down the Pioneers in the first four innings, starting pitcher Chris Quijano ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning as Anthony Capozziello hit a laser to center field to give Sacred Heart their first run.

After then hitting two of the next three batters, interim head coach Justin McKay went to the bullpen, bringing in another freshman Trent Valentine. Valentine immediately gave up an RBI single to Stephen Thibault, then the next batter Dan Schock hit a three-run dinger to right to bring the Pioneers back into the game 7-5.  

Sacred Heart tied the ballgame up in the top of the sixth inning as Matt Sorrento and Cody Doyle went back-to-back off of Valentine. The Knights would respond right away, as McDonald tallied his third hit of the afternoon with a leadoff double and then scored on a sac fly from shortstop Oliver Tavares, giving FDU an 8-7 lead. 

However, the lead would not last, as Capozziello hit his second homer of the day in the top of the eighth inning, then in the ninth inning, pinch hitter Kyle Oliver and Thibault went back-to-back off Austin Crebs to give Sacred Heart a 10-8 lead.  

The Knights looked to rally in the bottom of the ninth but with runners on second and third, winning pitcher Jake Frasca struck out Stanton to end the game.  

The duo of McDonald and Fatzinger combined to go 5-for-8 with six RBIs, Mike Veit tallied two hits, while Stanton logged three hits and Theodorellis registered a 2-for-3 performance.  

Quijano lasted 4.2 innings, striking out four, while allowing three runs. In relief, Crebs tossed 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. 

The two teams will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, May 5) with a doubleheader, first game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start time.