TEANECK, N.J. – Reigning NEC Rookie of the Week
Salvatore Monticciolo launched his team-leading fifth home run of the season but the Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team was unable to hold off Iona in a 5-3 loss at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
The Knights (3-16-1) led 3-1 in the contest but the Gaels (5-17) fought back with four unanswered runs to take the win.
Monticciolo, who totaled 14 RBIs over the Knights' previous five outings, continued his stellar play by hitting a solo blast over the right-field fence. The freshman finished the afternoon 1-for-4 as the Knights recorded five hits as a team.
The Gaels totaled 10 knocks on the day led by Stephen Furman and Jake Field, who finished with two hits apiece. Field registered a pair of doubles into the right-center field gap and scored two runs in the win.
Sophomore
Chris Quijano started for the Knights and went one inning, allowed an unearned run and struck out three Gaels. Junior right-hander
James Donlon (0-2) took the loss allowing three earned on four hits across his three innings of work.
Aided by three FDU miscues, the Gaels struck for a run on one hit in the first inning.
The Knights would take the lead by netting two runs in the second. Monticciolo's one-out solo blast registered the first run and then
Brett Mercier doubled before scoring on a
Tony Socci single.
Leading 2-1 in the third, the Knights scratched out a run thanks to a pair of errors by the Gaels. In total, the Knights committed five errors, while the Gaels totaled three.
A fourth-inning RBI single by Daniel Palermo cut the Knights' lead to 3-2 and the Gaels would tie the game in the sixth with Field's second double of the day setting the stage.
Tied at 3-3 in the top of the seventh, the Gaels would take the lead for good with two runs on two hits. Furman knocked in the go-ahead run with a double to center field.
The Knights would bring the tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh but a baserunning miscue resulted in a double play on a flyout and the team would not threaten again in the contest.
The Burgundy and Blue are back in action tomorrow when they host Seton Hall for the second time this season. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
