Madison, NJ (February 27) – The FDU-Florham baseball team, which is off to one of if not the best start in program history, split its non-conference doubleheader with the City College of New York (CCNY) this afternoon at Vincent J. and Lenda F. Naimoli Ballpark. 

FDU's 4-1 start to the season ties its best start to a campaign sine 2010. The 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003 teams also registered marks of 4-1 through their first five games of the season.
 
CCNY (1-1) took game one, 6-2, before FDU-Florham (4-1) bounced back with a 10-4 victory in the nightcap. FDU-Florham sophomore Tyrus Chippendale (Middlesex, NJ) combined for a 3-for-7 effort with three RBI and one run in the twin bill this afternoon.
 
Game One:
 
FDU-Florham took advantage of a CCNY error in the bottom of the first as Matt Nodoro (Morristown, NJ)came across to score the game's first run on a groundout by Vincent Ferrigno (Marlboro, NJ). Nodoro walked as the second batter of the game, moved to second on a single by Tommy Moore (Mansfield, NJ)and advanced to third on the error before scoring for the Devils.
 
After Xavier Grobbel led off the fourth with a single, he moved to second on a sac bunt and to third on a wild pitch. M. Chasanov knotted the game up at 1-1 and played Grobbel on an RBI single down the left field line.
 
CCNY scored one more in the fifth and two in both the sixth and seventh innings to account for the 6-2 win. In addition to CCNY's offense rallying late, the visitors got a shutdown pitching performance by J. Johnstone (1-0), who scattered just three hits, allowed an unearned run and struck out five in six innings.
 
FDU starter DJ Gonnelli (Berkeley Heights, NJ) took the loss (0-1) as he pitched five innings and allowed five hits, two runs and struck out three.
 
Game Two:
 
The Devils bounced back in the nightcap with a 10-4 victory to improve to 4-1 on the season. CCNY scored the first run of the game in the top of the third before an RBI single by Ferrigno paired with an error in the outfield by the Beavers gave the Devils a 3-1 lead through four.
 
An RBI single in the top of the fifth by Grobbel cut CCNY's deficit to just one at 3-2, but FDU answered with seven runs in the bottom of the frame to push the game out of reach. The Devils batted around in the frame and took advantage of two CCNY errors for their seven runs. Chippendale capped the inning with a two run single down the left field line.
 
Joseph Kastner (Springfield, NJ) picked up his first win of the season (1-0) as he tossed five innings, scattered five hits, allowed two runs and struck out eight. Zach Clausen (Staten Island, NY) made his collegiate debut and closed the door in the top of the seventh.
 
FDU (4-1) will travel to Kean University for a big in region battle with the undefeated Cougars on Tuesday, March 1 at 3:00 pm.

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