CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – In a pair of MAC Freedom contests, the Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham baseball team came out on top 1-0 in game one but fell 3-2 in game two to the DeSales University Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

Game 1:

The opening game of the conference doubleheader featured a pitching duel as both starters went the distance.

In the end it was sophomore Kenny Carrier who picked up the 1-0 victory after tossing seven shutout innings and only surrendering three hits while striking out four.

Carrier got immediate run support as the Devils offense plated a run in the top half of the first inning. The run was scored on an RBI double by Frankie Tassielli after Kevin Sinclair and Vinny Bonaccorso notched back-to-back singles.

After three innings of brilliant pitching, Carrier got himself into a jam in the bottom half of the fourth. The Bulldogs had runners on second and third following a double to left by Alec Hardy, but Carrier responded by striking out the next two batters to get out of the inning.

Following the fourth inning of play, Carrier did not surrender a single hit to a Bulldogs' batter.

In the top half of the sixth the Devils were threatening to add a few insurance runs. They had two runners on after Tassielli was hit by a pitch and Bryan Pieschel singled to center. However, the Bulldogs starter, Steven Wallace, was able to get a timely groundball double play to prevent the damage.

Carrier closed out the seventh inning and the Devils picked up the conference win.

Game 2:

The Devils (9-16-1, 3-10 MAC Freedom) came back onto the field for the second game of the series and were edged out by the Bulldogs 3-2.

Josh DellaPietro recorded a multi-hit game and went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Meanwhile, Sinclair and Christopher Franco each batted 1-for-3 with an RBI.

For the first time all afternoon the Bulldogs (17-11, 9-4 MAC Freedom) were able to get on the board. It was in the bottom half of the third when Pat Rhoads and Jesse Smoot tallied back-to-back singles and they both scored once Conner Lafferty shot a single into center and a costly fielding error was committed by the Devils.

In the top half of the fourth the Devils responded. Bonaccorso drew a one-out base on balls and the bases were loaded after two consecutive singles by Tassielli and Pieschel. Franco was the next batter up and he shot the ball to the right side of the infield and Bonaccorso was able to trot home and score.

It was a one-run game up until the fifth inning and the Devils had to runners get on base once DellaPietro and Joseph Breymeier notched back-to-back singles. Sinclair then came up to bat and he knotted the game up at 2-2 with an RBI double down the left field line.

The game remained tied until the Bulldogs loaded the bases up in the sixth inning and a wild pitch allowed the game-deciding run to score.

The Devils be back on the field on Tuesday, April 19 for a road contest in Ewing, N.J. against The College of New Jersey at 3:30 p.m.