FT. MYERS, Fla. (March 10, 2019) – The middle infield duo of sophomore
Matt Nodoro and senior
Jake Alercio each notched two hits, but the FDU-Florham baseball team was upended by Vassar College 12-6 Sunday afternoon.
The Brewers drew first blood, notching an unearned run in the first inning. Vassar loaded the bases with one out, but senior
Brad Norris escaped with a strikeout and a foul out to end the inning. Vassar extended the lead in the second, registering two runs on four hits. Norris wiggled out of trouble by fanning the final batter of the frame.
The Devils got on the board in the home half of the second. Freshman
Tyler McCulloch notched a one-out double to left field and was driven home courtesy of a single by sophomore
Joe Moskowitz. Norris and junior
Arjun Alwis kept the Brewers off the scoreboard over the next two frames, with Alwis picking a runner off second base in the fourth.
Alwis worked a perfect fifth before the Brewers tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth. Sophomore
Joseph Buser relieved Alwis in the sixth and retired the first two hitters he faced thanks to a groundout and a strikeout.
FDU battled back, recording three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one down, sophomore
Chris Ciancimino reached on an error while junior
Jonathan Biale drew a walk. Nodoro launched a double to right-center which plated Ciancimino. Biale was able to scoot home on a wild pitch, trimming the lead to 5-3. Senior
Ian Havran brought the Devils to within one with a ground ball that was booted by the second basemen, allowing Nodoro to score.
Vassar registered an unearned run in the seventh and an additional run in the eighth to take a 7-4 lead entering the bottom of the eighth. Nodoro led off the eighth with a double and moved to third on a single by Havran. Moskowitz hit a sacrifice fly which plated with Havran advancing to third on a single from senior
Kevin Smiegocki. With two down, Alercio dropped a single to left-center to bring the Devils to within 7-6.
The Brewers broke the game open in the ninth, scoring five times on four hits. FDU had one final at-bat and loaded the bases on walks by junior
Michael Tufano, Nodoro and McCulloch. The team was unable to scratch a run across as the last two hitters were retired.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Alercio has notched two hits in both of his starts this season.
• Nodoro recorded a pair of doubles and scored two runs.
• The pitching struck out nine hitters, led by four from Norris. The senior had three games last season with four or more punchouts.
• Buser made his collegiate debut, working the final 3 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Devils return to the field tomorrow, taking on Plymouth State University in a doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m.
