Baseball Falls to FDU on Friday in Series-Opener, 4-1

The Central Connecticut baseball team fell to Fairleigh Dickinson, 4-1, in the opener of a four-game Northeast Conference series on Friday at CCSU Baseball Field. The Blue Devils got on the board first, but strong pitching and timely hitting lifted the Knights to the win.

The loss drops Central to 10-17 overall and 4-5 in NEC play, while the Knights improve to 9-15 overall and 3-6 in the NEC.

Senior Dominic Severino opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when he took a pitch over the fence in center field for his fourth homerun of the year to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.

The score remained unchanged until the third when FDU's Matt McCann singled with two outs and stole second base. He scored on a single by Dylan Sprague to tie the game at 1-1.

The Blue Devils had opportunities to score in the second and fifth innings. In the second, they loaded the bases with no outs, but after a conference at the mound FDU starter Joe Flack retired three in a row to escape the inning. CCSU again loaded the bases in the fifth, but Flack ended the inning with a strikeout and a hard-hit liner at the first baseman.

Sophomore Matt Blandino retired eight straight Knights hitters until the top of the seventh when Riley Moonan led off with a single. He moved to third on a single by Joel Roman and came into score on a single by Ryan Brennan. The Knights added another run following an error to make it 3-1.

FDU added a run in the top of the ninth and after loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, Eric Snyder induced a groundout to pick up his sixth save of the season.

Severino finished with two hits, while junior Corey Lerche and freshman Mike Arman each added two hits as well. Blandino went the distance on the mound and allowed three earned runs on eight hits, while striking out five and walking two.

Flack went 7.2 innings and allowed the single run, while scattering seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Snyder picked up the save after throwing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and allowed three hits with one walk. The pair combined to strand 14 CCSU baserunners.

The two teams continue the four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at CCSU Baseball Field.