SALISBURY, Md. – The FDU Knights closed out a conference series against the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks on Saturday afternoon. The Knights took game three to claim the series win with an 11-6 victory.  

Ben Pika started the game on the hill for the Knights and lasted 3.2 innings before head coach Manny Roman turned to the bullpen for the rest of the game. Pika struck out two batters while only allowing three runs on five hits. Logan Magdits and Stephen Proko closed out the game logging a combined seven strikeouts.

Immediately, the Knights jumped on the board with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Johnathan Gomez to score the first run of the day. With two runners on, Franklin Gomez Jr. blasted a two-run single to centerfield to give FDU an early 3-0 lead. The Knights tacked on another run in the second inning after a pitch found its way to the back stop allowing Jimmy Mantuano to score, adding one run to the FDU advantage. 

The Hawks offense showed fight in the fourth inning where they stole home to plate their first run of the game and added two more runs to the frame off a two-run single to bring the game within one. 

Gomez Jr. continued his dominant day at the plate in the fifth inning with an RBI single to right field. Anthony Chiappetta followed up with a two-run single of his own to extend the lead over UMES 7-3. 

UMES answered back with another three-run frame in the fifth where they capitalized on three singles to account for each of their runs to bring their deficit to one again. 

The Knights scored four more runs through the rest of the game by a sacrifice fly, two wild pitches and a defensive miscue by the Hawks to close the game with an 11-6 victory. 

WHAT'S NEXT

The Knights look to avenge an early season loss against Monmouth on Wednesday, May 7 for another midweek matchup. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.


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