CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Knights played the final game of a three-game set against Queens (N.C.) on Sunday; FDU won 7-6. Sunday's win gives the Knights a 3-4 record through their difficult opening schedule where they traveled to North and South Carolina all within a week of each other. 
 

how it happened

Both teams went scoreless through the first two innings of play until the Knights broke out in the third inning. A four-run inning was started off by a Justin Sierra bunt that the Royals botched and threw the ball around to score two runs; Hunter D'Amato and Luke Cantwell finished off the inning with an RBI apiece. 

Freshman Jeremy Cheeseman started on the bump for the Knights and gave them four scoreless innings with five strikeouts. The Royals cut the Knights lead in half when they scored two runs off of Patrick Gardner in the fifth inning. The FDU bullpen held strong for the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings when Grant Goodlad came in and stifled the Royals offense. Goodlad went three scoreless innings while striking out three batters. While Goodlad was shutting down the Royals the Knights offense exploded for three home runs; one in the seventh, eighth and ninth. The three lefties in the lineup, Luke Cantwell, Tom Ruscitti, and Devin Pelletier all went yard to give FDU a 7-2 lead heading into the ninth inning. Ruscitti's home run was his 37th career homer and put him into sole possession of the top slot for FDU career home runs. 

The ninth inning saw Jude Baxt falter trying to close out the game. He recorded only two outs while surrendering four runs to cut the Knights lead to 7-6. Head coach Manny Roman went to the bullpen for the final out of the game when Evan Stewart entered with runners on first and second with two outs. Two pitches into the at-bat, Stewart got Riley Cheek to fly out to left field to end the game. 
 

Up next

• The Knights will travel back North to play in their first-midweek matchup when they take on Fordham. They will trek to Houlihan Park in New York, N.Y. on Wednesday March 1. The game will be played at 3 p.m. and fans can watch on ESPN+.