TEANECK, N.J. - FDU Baseball (31-17-1, 24-7 NEC) dropped the series opener at the hands of the LIU Sharks (26-19, 25-6 NEC) Thursday afternoon at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex by a final score of 20-9.
The Sharks jumped on the FDU starter
Chris Mattioli right away in the first inning, as the Sharks were the beneficiary's of a pair of walks and a hit by pitch, as well as an RBI single that made th score 2-0, one more LIU player would score in the opening frame as the Knights faced a three run deficit right out of the gate in the opening game of this crucial series.
LIU would create even more separation in the third inning, as in total the Sharks got to FDU pitching for seven more runs in the third frame, as Mattioli would exit surrendering nine earned runs and eight hits, and the Knights would trail by a 10-0 count at end of the first three innings of the ballgame.
FDU would show some resistance in the fourth, after reliever
Chris Messina gave the Knights a zero on the mound,
Jeremy Delamota would hit his eighth home run of the season to make the score 10-3.
Johnathan Gomez singled home another run in the fourth and the Knights had cut the LIU lead to six after four frames.
LIU would answer back with a run in the fifth, but FDU would continue to cut into the lead with RBI's from
Johnathan Gomez,
Jeremy Delamota, and
Travis Stroh to make the game 11-7. The Knights even had Gomez up at the plate with the bases loaded with a chance to tie the game in the seventh inning, but the Knights were turned away.
LIU would continue the offensive onslaught against Messina and
Logan Magdits, as the Sharks added another seven run inning in the eighth. LIU would not look back from there as the Knights grabbed some late runs, but it would not be nearly enough, as LIU grabbed the first game of this crucial series of the NEC's best.
FDU has fallen to second place in the NEC for the first time this season, as they will need to win the latter two games of this series with LIU to win the NEC regular season title.
FDU will look to bounce back in game two of their series with LIU, as the two teams will square off at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex tomorrow at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on the NEC on the Run App with Charlie Carbonetto on the call.
