BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - FDU Baseball used a shutout effort from three pitchers to defeat the Gardner Webb Runnin' Bulldogs on Opening Day by a final score of 6-0. 

The Knights used the efforts of Cooper Montelbano, Chris Messina, and Nick Noble to hold the Bulldogs to just three hits as the Knights move to 1-0 on the young season, and the win marks FDU's first on Opening Day since 2023. 

FDU got the offense going early, as after a Johnathan Gomez leadoff walk, Hunter Ray doubled to move the runners to second and third for newcomer Garryn Plummer. Plummer then hit a sacrifice fly to score Gomez to give the Knights the early 1-0. In the next at bat, Diego Urreta knocked an RBI single through the right side to score Ray, and FDU took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the first frame. 

The Knights would add two more in the fourth inning, as Jimmy Mantuano extended the Knights lead to 3-0 on a wild pitch, and then Urreta was once again a recipient of an RBI, as he walked with the bases loaded. Plummer and Urreta would both add sacrifice flies to score runs in the sixth inning, and the Knights pitching staff took it from there as FDU cruised to a shutout Opening Day win. 

FDU's pitching staff started with Cooper Montelbano, as he took care of the Bulldogs in the first three innings, despite battling through some base runners, Montelbano and the Knights did not concede a run.

The next Knight on the mound was Chris Messina who shut down the Bulldogs as well, tossing five dominant innings while only surrendering one hit, and striking out four batters. Nick Noble took the reigns in the ninth and recorded a clean inning to get the shutout bid over the finish line. 
 

UP NEXT

FDU will take on Dartmouth in the opening part of a doubleheader tomorrow at John Henry Moss Stadium. Following the matchup with the Big Green, the Knights will take on Gardner Webb once again. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. for the opener, followed by a 3 p.m. first pitch in the second contest. 
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