TEANECK, N.J. - FDU Baseball opened the 2026 home campaign with a win over the Iona Gaels on Wednesday afternoon at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. The Knights got a go-ahead home run from
Hunter Ray in the seventh inning to take the lead, and the Knights relievers shut the door following the homer.
Iona was the first team on the scoreboard in the afternoon affair, as the Gaels took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a AJ Oden RBI single. FDU would then punch back and tie the game in the bottom half of the third, with a
Garryn Plummer RBI single that scored
Hunter Ray, making good for Plummer's third RBI on the season.
The Gaels would add two additonal runs in the fourth, scoring those on Knights pitcher
Mason Hebert by way of a single and a sacrifice fly to make the game 3-1 Iona heading into the bottom of the fourth. FDU would find another run in the same frame, as
Andres Castro found a two strike base hit to score
Jeremy Cheeseman.
The game would go scoreless until the bottom of the seventh, with FDU trailing,
Hunter Ray hit a go-ahead two-run home run to put the Knights on top 4-3. The home run was the first of the season for Ray, as well as his first RBIs.
The game would then turn over to the back end of the Knights bullpen, where
Nick Noble was the man for the job in the eighth frame. Noble escaped a two on, one out jam, by striking out the side of Iona batters to get the Knights back into the dugout.
Derek Bartek came on to close the contest and cruised through his three Iona batters, striking out all three that he faced, making it six straight punchouts to end the game for FDU.
The Knights with the home opening win move to 2-5 on the season, and the loss for the Gaels marks their fifth straight, as Iona dropped to 1-5 following the result Wednesday evening.
FDU will head across town to take on the Wagner Seahawks in their opening series of the NEC calendar. All three contests will be played at Jim Hynes '63 Stadium, on the campus of Kean University, with FDU being the visiting team on the scoreboard. All three contests will be streamed on NEC Front Row.
Connect with the Knights on social media by following @FDUKnightsBase on Instagram and X.
