DOVER, Del. - FDU Baseball (16-9, 10-2 NEC) took both games in a doubleheader with the Delaware State Hornets (2-19, 2-9 NEC) at Bob Reed Field Sunday afternoon, as the Knights took the opener 19-1, and then followed up the victory by claiming another, topping the Hornets 9-0 in the second contest.
FDU dominated the opening game, as the Knights jumped on Delaware State in the third inning with a
Garryn Plummer RBI groundout, followed by a
Diego Urreta RBI single that made the game 2-0 Knights after the first third of baseball played.
FDU would break the game open in the fourth inning, scoring a season high 12 runs in the fourth frame, starting with a
Travis Stroh two run single, then two runs coming by way of Hornet errors, followed by another two run single, this one from Jimmy Mantauno. Following Mantuano's single, the bases became loaded for
Jeremy Delamota who cleared those bases with a grand slam, making it his third of the season, which put the Knights up 12-0.
The Knights would continue to apply pressure in the fourth inning, as
Johnathan Gomez singled home
Brady Fandl, followed by a
Garryn Plummer sacrifice fly, which would be the last of the scoring in the fourth inning. In total the Knights scored 12 runs, the most in any inning this season for FDU, on six hits and four Delaware State errors.
The offense continued to explode in the fifth inning, as the Knights tacked on three more runs thanks to RBI's from Gomez and
Jeremy Cheeseman, that made the score 17-0 at the end of five innings. FDU's last two runs came in the fashion of a
Joey DiMotta RBI walk, followed by an
Andres Castro RBI single, which made for 19 total runs on 11 hits in the opening game of the doubleheader.
Joe Barbarino got the start in the first game for FDU and was magnificent, going five innings and giving up no runs on just one hit.
Evan Doyle got the ball after Barbarino, and did give up one run in two innings of work, but was good despite that, allowing just two hits and striking out three Hornets in his relief appearance.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Knights got an even better pitching output from
Drew Cisney and
Derek Bartek. Cisney went seven full innings, allowing just two hits but letting his defense work behind him, as the Knights were good in the field helping Cisney out. Bartek came on for the final two innings of the ballgame and was able to hold the Hornets scoreless, allowing just one hit and striking out two batters.
The FDU offense certainly helped themselves out as well, with the Knights keeping the momentum going from the first game, starting with a three run homer from
Travis Stroh, which gave FDU a three run lead early on in the ballgame. The Knights added two more in the third, scoring on a
Jeremy Delamota sacrifice fly and a wild pitch, that made it 5-0 FDU after the first three innings.
Nick Quagliato was credited with an RBI in the fifth inning, as he drew a bases loaded walk to extend the Knights lead, and later in the inning
Johnathan Gomez found an RBI with a run scoring base hit to make it 7-0 Knights.
FDU would tack on two more in the eighth for good measure, as
Hunter Ray hit a solo home run, then later in the inning,
Jeremy Cheeseman delivered an RBI single to make it 9-0 Knights, which is what the score would stay at, as FDU cruised to their 9th and 10th NEC victories.
FDU's next game is another NEC matchup, this time against Maryland Eastern Shore, as FDU and UMES will start their three game series on Thursday afternoon at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
