TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson baseball team dropped game two of its series with Sacred Heart, 13-6 at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex on Saturday afternoon.
The Knights (4-18-1, 2-3 NEC) nearly erased a 5-1 deficit but ultimately the Pioneers (7-16, 3-2 NEC) pulled away with seven runs in the final inning.
Reigning NEC Rookie of the Week,
Salvatore Monticciolo clubbed his NEC-leading sixth home run of the season and finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored in the loss. In addition,
Nate Brodsky,
Adam Frank,
Evan McDonald and
Tom Ruscitti each tallied two hits for the Burgundy and Blue, who will look to take the rubber game from the Pioneers on Sunday afternoon.
Freshman
Griffin Gilbert started for the Knights and dropped to 0-2 on the season with a final line of four innings, four earned runs on six hits allowed and six strikeouts.
Ryan LaMay (2-2) earned the win for the Pioneers by tossing six innings of two-run baseball with five strikeouts. Offensively, Austin Markmann registered four of the Pioneers' 15 hits in the contest.
The Pioneers scored three runs in the top of the first inning, highlighted by Justin Jordan's inside-the-park home run.
In the home first, Monticciolo launched his sixth homer of the season – a solo shot – which made it a 3-1 game. The freshman now has a team-high 22 RBIs on the campaign.
Trailing 6-2 in the eighth, the Knights netted three runs on four hits to close to within one. The inning began with three straight singles by Monticciolo, Frank and McDonald. McDonald's knock plated Monticciolo with the first run.
With two on and two outs, freshman
Ryan Glowacki knocked in a pair with a single to center, which made it a 6-5 game, however, the Pioneers would pull away in the top of the ninth.
In the ninth, the Pioneers amassed seven runs on five hits and picked up some help from two Knights' miscues to break the game open.
Monticciolo would chase home Brodsky with a single in the bottom of the inning for the game's final tally.
These two teams square off tomorrow in the rubber match at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m.
