TEANECK, NJ - The Knights hosted new conference foe Norfolk State in the first of their three game weekend series on Friday afternoon. FDU entered the weekend needing to secure multiple wins over the Spartans to stay in the race for one of the top seeds in the NEC tournament. The Knights put together a solid performance on the mound and at the dish to secure their 22nd win of the season. 
 

how it happened

After a poor week of baseball against Saint Peter's, Sacred Heart, and St. John's it was pivotal for the Knights to come out hot in this weekend set against the Spartans who have only eight wins on the season. FDU answered the call early with a multiple run second inning led by Hunter D'Amato and Brelon Harden. With one out in the second inning D'Amato stepped to the plate and blasted a solo home run to center field to give FDU a 1-0 lead and extend his own on-base streak to 34 games. However, the Burgundy and Blue were not done in the inning; after Luke Cantwell walked with two outs Harden was able to smack a two-out two-run double to right center field and give FDU a 2-0 lead. The Spartans got their first run on the board in the third inning after a Brandon Cleveland double to right field but FDU responded nicely with one run apiece in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings. The bottom of the third saw George Rosales drill his fourth big fly of the season to extend the FDU lead to 3-1. The fourth inning was led off by speedy center fielder Justin Sierra, who singled to his counterpart in the outfield. Sierra proceeded to steal second base and advance to third on a fielder's choice before the NEC stolen base leader caught the Spartans by surprise and swiped home plate for his 26th stolen base on the season. The offensive onslaught continued in the bottom of the fifth inning when Tom Ruscitti deposited his 10th homer of the season with Rosales on base to put the Knights ahead by five runs heading into the sixth inning. 

Jude Baxt got the start for Manny Roman's squad and he did not disappoint, he was able to go 5.1 innings while only allowing one run and striking out seven Spartans on the day to earn his fifth win of the season. Despite the dominant performance from the Florida native his outing ended abruptly in the sixth inning after he struck out his seventh batter on the day and was removed from the game due to an apparent injury. Ian Barrett got the tough assignment out of the bullpen to enter the game without warming up and was not treated nicely by the NSU lineup. He pitched himself into trouble after a walk and multiple singles from the Norfolk batters before they finally got to Barrett for a run in the sixth to cut into the lead. The 6-2 FDU lead was in jeopardy in the seventh inning when Barrett continued to struggle on the mound and eventually allowed a three run home run to Raphael Rodriguez of the Spartans to cut the Knights lead to only 6-5. 

Despite the rough outing from the bullpen Brendan Medoro was called on in the eighth inning to close out the game and hopefully pick up his third save of the season. Medoro only faced four batters in the top of the eighth inning and picked up three quick outs with some help from his catcher Rosales, who threw a runner out at second base. Things got dicey for Medoro in the ninth inning after a lead off double and a passed ball instantly put the game tying run on third base with nobody out. The hard throwing reliever was able to strike out the following hitter before he walked Rodriguez and allowed him to steal second base; the stolen base put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Medoro worked his typical magic and struck out Justin Journette and got Jacob Council to bounce out to Cantwell at first base to strand the Spartan runners and win the game. 

The Knights and Spartans will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. when the two teams will battle it out on "Little League Day" at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. Local little leaguers will be at the stadium ready to cheer on the Knights and will them to a victory and series win over Norfolk State. Fans at home will be able to watch the game on NEC Front Row where they will be treated by play-by-play announcer Charlie Carbonetto or can follow live updates on Twitter @FDUKnightsBASE.