Emmitsburg, Md. (May 17, 2007)--Senior Eric Smith had two hits and three RBI to pace Mount St. Mary's to a 13-5 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in Northeast Confernece action at Straw Family Stadium on campus. Smith's two hits give him 193 for his career, breaking the Mount's career record for hits.

Smith was one of six Mount players to have two hits on the day. Junior Josh Vittek was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two stolen bases while Justus Yocum, Stephan Fay, Mike Gioioso and Matt Eiden each added a pair of hits in the win. Jeff Vincent went 2-for-4 with two RBI to pace the Knights (9-42, 4-20 NEC).

Senior Dustin Pease struck out five while allowing five runs (four earned) to earn the win for the Mount. Pease (8-5) tied the Mount's all-time strikeout record with his five punchouts today. Pease has 303 career strikeouts at the Mount, matching Brian Santo's (2000-03) record.

The Mount jumped to an early lead with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Yocum generated the first run all by himself when he singled to open the frame, stole second, stole third and scored when the catcher's throw sailed into left field. Vittek then doubled and scored on an Eric Smith single. Fay ripped a single up the middle to plate Smith and Gioioso's RBI double to right scored Drew Counselman for a 4-0 advantage.

After Vincent doubled home Chris Grabowski in the top of the third, Vittek scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning for a 5-1 lead. Smith's sacrifice fly in the fourth pushed the margin to 6-1 before the Knights rallied to cut the deficit to 6-4 with two runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth. In the fifth, a sacrifice fly and a Mount error produced two runs for the Knights while Vincent Pennacchino's RBI single in the sixth made the score 6-4.

The Mount sealed the win with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Smith's RBI single plated Hodgson with the first run of the inning before Counselman blasted a three-run homer to right-center field for a 10-4 lead. It was Counselman's sixth home run of the season.

Fairleigh Dickinson scored their final run on a Bryan Greer sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Vittek added an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh and Gioioso and Eiden added back-to-back RBI doubles in the eighth to complete the scoring.

The Mount is one-half game behind Quinnipiac in the Northeast Conference standings. Quinnipiac swept a doubleheader against Sacred Heart earlier today to improve to 19-7 in league play.

The two teams continue the four-game series with a noon doubleheader at Straw Family Stadium tomorrow.

Game Notes...The Mount stole nine bases in the game, including two each by Yocum, Hodgson and Vittek...Vittek had one career steal heading into today's game...Yocum now has 35 career steals at the Mount, just four shy of matching Wayne Crowley's (1997-2000) school-record mark of 39...Smith now has 56 RBI on the season, just two shy of the Mount's single-season record of 58 set by Brian Thomas in 1999.