EWING, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham baseball rallied late and put up five runs in the ninth inning but ultimately fell to the No. 15-ranked TCNJ Lions 10-9 in a non-conference road contest on Tuesday afternoon.
The Devils (9-17) offense combined to record 14 hits in the loss to the Lions (24-4). Senior Vinny Bonaccorso went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored, while sophomore Bryan Pieschel added a pair of hits with two RBIs and two runs scored. In just his third start of the season, sophomore Garrett Ruoff tallied a team-high three hits in three at bats and scored a pair of runs.
TCNJ got off to a quick start and by the end of the second inning they led by six runs. FDU-Florham scored its first run of the afternoon in the third on a passed ball to cut the deficit to five, but the Lions responded with a run in the bottom half of the third and sixth inning.
With one out in the top half of the seventh the Devils had the bases loaded with senior Kevin Sinclair coming up to bat. When Sinclair put the ball in play, a run came in to score and he reached base safely on a fielder's choice.
Bonaccorso then stepped into the box and shot an RBI single to the left side of the infield to make it an 8-3 game.
The Lions lead grew to seven after Alex Christian tripled and Matt Facas hit a two-run homer over the left field fence. However, the Devils continued to chip away.
Pieschel led off the top half of the eighth with a single up the middle. After the Lions recorded an out in the inning, Sam Coutoufos hit a single to left-center and Pieschel sprinted to third base. With two runners on, Joseph Bonaccorso hit a sacrifice fly to left field and Pieschel scored.
It was a 10-4 game when the Devils came up to bat in the ninth inning. Ruoff got things started with a leadoff single to left field and after Sinclair reached on a fielder's choice, they both came in to score once Vinny Bonaccorso blasted a three-run home run over the left field fence.
Senior Frankie Tassieli was due up next and he singled into left-center before scoring on a Pieschel two-run home run on the following at bat.
The Devils now trailed by a single run with no outs but the Lions were able to prevent any more damage and grabbed the non-conference victory.
FDU-Florham will be back on the field on Wednesday, April 20 to square off against Drew University in the Madison Avenue Challenge which will take place at 6 p.m. at Dodge Field.
