UNION, N.J. (February 24, 2018) – The FDU-Florham baseball team was topped by Kean University 7-3 in the season-opener Sunday afternoon.
The Devils tallied a run in their first inning of the season. Sophomore
Nate Peacock beat out an infield hit while junior
Billy Podurgiel scratched a single through the right side. With two on, sophomore
AJ Yurista singled home Peacock with a hit through the left side to give FDU a 1-0 lead.
Kean leveled the game one in their opening at-bat before both sides went down 1-2-3 in the second. The Devils had runners on the corners with one down in the third but were unable to push a run across. The Cougars took the lead with an RBI groundout in the bottom half of the third inning.
The hosts threatened to break the game open in the fourth, loading the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. Sophomore
Jeremy Bello was summoned from the bullpen to relieve classmate
Jonathan Weitzman, and the sophomore coaxed a 6-4-3 double play to escape the inning.
After the Cougars tacked on three in the fifth, Bello once again escaped further damage by getting an inning double-play with men on first and third. Podurgiel led off the sixth with his second hit of the day and moved to second as Yurista was hit with a pitch. Junior
Jonathan Biale loaded the bags with a single to left, and senior
Ian Havran knocked in Podurgiel with a run-scoring groundout. A walk to junior
Kevin Smiegocki reloaded the bases, with senior
Jake Alercio lacing an RBI single into left to cut the deficit down to two at 5-3.
Kean took advantage of a defensive miscue to plate a run in the bottom of the sixth before adding a final run into the eighth on an RBI triple. Alercio collected another hit in the ninth, but the Devils were unable to get any closer.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The middle infield combination of Podurgiel and Alercio each went 2-for-4. For the senior Alercio, it marked the first two hits of his career.
• Bello and senior
Joseph DeFeo each picked up strikeouts on the mound. Bello went 3 2/3 innings in relief, giving up four runs (two earned) with no walks and the punch-out.
• Smiegocki led the team with nine put-outs.
UP NEXT
The Devils return to action on Tuesday, March 5 when they hit the road again to take on Cairn University at 3:30 p.m. FDU last knocked off Cairn in 2017, notching a 5-4 victory.
