Box Score MADISON, N.J. (April 23, 2014) – Heading into the biggest four-game stretch of the season, the Drew University baseball team received a big momentum boost by winning The Battle of Madison Ave., 11-8, over FDU-Florham in a slugfest on Wednesday at Doc Young Field.

Drew defeated the Devils for the first time since 2007 in the MAC Tournament. FDU-Florham had won five straight in the rivalry series.
 
The Rangers (14-18) took an 8-0 lead over their crosstown rivals after the second inning, but the Devils came all the way back to tie the game at 8-8 in the top of the fifth. Sophomore reliever Nate Brown threw the final five innings on Wednesday to earn the win and improve to 3-2 after allowing two runs on three hits and four walks while striking out three.
 
Sophomore third baseman Mike Klinger (3-for-5, two runs, four RBIs) came through for the game-winning RBI with a single in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
"We got it done by playing a full nine innings of baseball," said head coach Brian Hirschberg, whose team won its second game in the last seven outings. "That's a good hitting team, and we were able to get out to a big lead. We didn't take them lightly by any means, and knew that they were going to try and come back and put pressure on us. We bent a little bit today, but we didn't break."
 
Brown allowed the Devils to eventually erase an 8-0 Drew lead and draw even, but the sophomore limited the damage to allow his club to take back the lead and clinch the victory. Brown worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to retire three straight, including a strikeout to end the game.
 
"I'm feeling really good," Brown said. "I wouldn't be in this position without my defense. They played a hell of a game behind me and got me out of some tough jams. It was a great team win with some good all-around offense and defense."
 
It didn't take long for the Rangers bats to heat up on a brisk April afternoon. Junior right fielder Al Krause recorded an RBI, and with the bases loaded, Klinger ripped a bases-clearing triple to the right-center field gap as Drew took a 4-0 lead. The Rangers extended the lead to 5-0 after one of four Devils errors in the inning. FDU-Florham committed a total of eight defensive miscues in the loss.
 
Drew kept the foot on the gas in the second, scoring three more runs on three hits. Krause led off with a double to right center and crossed the plate when the next batter, sophomore first baseman Bobby Miskura, hit an RBI single. Klinger followed with a double, and sophomore second baseman Anthony Feltre and freshman left fielder Richie Poland each knocked in a run for the 8-0 advantage.
 
The Devils' comeback spanned three innings and began with two runs in the third. They added another two in the fourth, and tied it in the fifth with four runs on three hits. FDU-Florham's leadoff hitter, Frankie Tassielli, sparked the comeback with two home runs, a solo shot in the third and a two-run bomb to dead center in the fourth.
 
Brown allowed two runs in the fifth, but held the Devils scoreless throughout the final four innings to earn the win.
 
"We talk a lot about being able to make adjustments, not just game-to-game, but sometimes inning-to-inning and pitch-to-pitch," Hirschberg said. "That's what Nate did today. He threw last night and I asked him to come back today. At first he couldn't find it and left some balls up, but he made the adjustments on the fly today and that was a big reason why we were able to pull out a win today; he was able to figure it out on the mound and throw up a couple of zeroes."
 
The Rangers backed up Brown in the eighth by loading the bases with one out, setting up Klinger's game-winning RBI. Feltre recorded his second RBI of the game, and Drew added another insurance run on a Devils error to take the 11-8 lead.
 
"I love seeing them go to work," Brown said of his offense. "I know they enjoy seeing me pitch well, and I enjoy watching them play defense behind me and hit the ball at the plate. It's awesome watching a whole team come together like that."
 
The win was well-timed ahead of a big four-game stretch at Doc Young Field that will decide the Rangers' playoff fate. Hirschberg acknowledges the benefit of heading into the weekend with a head of steam.
 
"Any win is a big win at this time of the season," the Rangers' third-year headman said. "Sometimes when you get in a rut, you forget how to win and you forget what it feels like. Getting this win over a great team going into a conference weekend is huge."
 
Drew, who currently sits in fourth place in the Landmark Conference for the final playoff spot, will conclude its series with The Catholic University of America on Friday, April 25 at 4 p.m. The three-game series with The University of Scranton begins on Saturday, April 26 at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader on Senior Day. The Landmark slate comes to a conclusion with the single, nine-inning game against Scranton on Sunday at noon.