Purple Knights Fall To Felician, 3-0, In NCAA Debut

Rindge, N.H.-The University of Bridgeport baseball team, making its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship Tournament, was limited to only three hits on the day, as the fifth-seeded Purple Knights were defeated by the four-seed Felician University Golden Falcons, 3-0, in the opening game of the 2016 NCAA Division II East Regional being hosted by Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire.  Thursday's game was played in a time of a brisk 1:53.  UB is now 27-23-1 on the season.  Felician, now moves on to face top-seeded Franklin Pierce University at 3:00 p.m. on Friday in the winner's bracket of the tournament, is now 34-19 overall.  The Purple Knights will now have Friday off and play in an elimination game against an opponent to be determined at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Felician starting pitcher Matt Blandino, the 2016 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Year, limited Bridgeport to only two hits over his eight innings of work in which he fanned five and did not issue a base on ball, as he upped his season record to 9-4.

Danny Naif worked a scoreless ninth for the Golden Falcons to earn his tenth save of 2016.

Juniors Tyler Gambardella (West Haven, Conn.) and Casey McCone (Milford, Conn.) plus sophomore Daren Grabowski (Berlin, Conn.), each had singles for the Purple Knights' three hits on the day.

Senior Rob Anderson (Stratford, Conn.), the first of three UB pitchers in the game, took the loss for the Purple Knights, allowing single runs in the first and second innings.  Anderson is now 4-2 on the year. 

Felician scored its other run on a solo home run by J.R. Meneses in the seventh inning.