Teaneck, N.J. – LIU baseball has emerged as NEC regular season champions for the second straight season, following Friday's 12-10 win over FDU.
The decisive game was one full of resilience from the Sharks. Despite finding themselves down 5-3, LIU's offense cashed in on a five-run fifth inning.
Jake Kelleher started things off with an RBI single and
Noah Sorensen doubled in two as the Sharks took the lead. Two more runs would come around to score, inching LIU up further 8-5.
The Knights would go on to tie the game in the later innings, but that set the stage for Kelleher to step in as the hero once again. With the contest in extra innings tied at 8 apiece, Kelleher sparked yet another key rally with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the eleventh.
Matthew McGurk also came up in the clutch with a big hit, following up with a triple that brought around two more.
This gave LIU a four-run cushion heading into the bottom of the inning, and
Alex Jankowski struck out three to slam the door and secure the win for the Sharks.
Kelleher finished the day batting 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. McGurk's triple helped headline a 2-for-5 day from him with two RBI, and Sorensen drove in three as part of a 2-for-6 outing.
Before heading to the NEC Tournament as the top seed for the second year in a row, LIU will wrap up its series with FDU on Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m.
