Mount St. Mary's held off Fairleigh Dickinson, 8-7, in the opening game of a four-game Northeast Conference series at Straw Family Stadium on campus on Friday afternoon. Tommy Flynn had three hits while Kyle Kane and Shane Eyler each homered and drove in three runs in the victory.

Fairleigh Dickinson (9-19, 4-5 NEC) opened the game quickly when lead-off batter Jeff Vincent belted a solo home run off the scoreboard in right center field to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

The Mount (14-16, 6-3 NEC) took the lead with a four-run third inning. Joe Kavanagh led off the frame with a solo home run to right field. Buddy Fields and Flynn added singles to put runners on first and third and Fields scored the go-ahead run on a Jacob Darr ground out. Kane followed with a two-run homer to left field. It was his fifth home run of the season.

FDU's Mike Eliasen hit an RBI double in the top of the fourth to cut the Mount lead to 4-2, but Kane got the run back when he plated Flynn with an RBI groundout.

Mount St. Mary's extended the lead to 8-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Fields singled, stole second base and moved to third base on a groundout. Fairleigh Dickinson elected to intentionally walk Kane to put runners on first and third with two outs. Eyler answered the call by belting his NEC-leading 10^th home run, a three-run bomb that put the Mount ahead 8-2.

The Knights responded with five runs in the top of the eighth inning. Vincent Pennacchio started the scoring with an RBI double and then scored on an Eliasen double to cut the Mount lead to 8-4. Vincent posted an RBI single to cut the Mount lead to three and Zachary Sand's two-run homer made it a one-run game.

The Mount brought in Mike Matta to close out the game in the ninth and he responded with a 1-2-3 inning for his fourth save of the year.

Flynn finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored while Kavanagh added a pair of hits in the win. Eyler and Kane each went 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in the game.

Max Brittenham (3-3) earned the win, allowing two runs with eight strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Vincent went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI while Eliasen was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to pace FDU. Ben Green allowed six runs (five earned) in six innings to take the loss.

The teams continue the series with a noon doubleheader at E.T. Straw Family Stadium on campus tomorrow.