Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader From NYIT

With a load of schedules changes this weekend, the Fordham baseball team wound up hosting the NYIT Bears for a doubleheader on Sunday at Houlihan Park and ended the day with two victories, pulling out a 3-2 win in seven innings and 11-5 victory in nine innings.
 
With the sweep, Fordham improved to 8-12 on the season.
 
In the opener, Joseph DeVito singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to give Fordham a 3-2 win.
 
Fordham got on the board right away in the first inning.  Joseph Runco doubled down the left field line to open the frame, followed by a walk to Ian Edmiston.  After a walk to Matthew Kozuch loaded the bases, Mark Donadio singled through the right side to plate Runco. Ryan McNally then plated Edmiston with a sacrifice fly.
 
The Bears responded with two runs in the fourth to tie the game, as they got sacrifice flies from Anthony Martelli and Matt DiBiase.
 
Then in the sixth, Fordham regained the lead, as Charles Galiano singled to right center and was pinch run for by Tim O'Connor.  After a passed ball advanced the runner, McNally put down a perfect bunt single to place runners at the corners, and later stole second.  DeVito then came through with a single to left to score O'Connor for the 3-2 lead.
 
Fordham reliever Jimmy Murphy made that lead hold up in the seventh, pitching two scoreless innings of relief to earn his first career win.  Starter Kirk Haynes, Jr. went the first five innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
 
At the plate, Donadio and McNally were both 1-for-2 with an RBI, with DeVito was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.

 
In game two, Runco posted three hits, three runs scored, and three stolen bases to lead the Rams' offense to an 11-5 win.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Fordham scored four times in the fifth and four times in the sixth to pull out to a 9-2 lead.  In the fifth, he Rams picked up run on a sacrifice bunt by Edmiston, and RBI-single by Galiano, and a two-run single from Ryan Mahoney.
 
Then in the sixth, the Rams picked up RBI-singles from Jason Lundy, Runco, and Donadio, as well as a run off a wild pitch to lead by seven.
 
The score remained that way until the eighth, when NYIT scored three times to pull within four at 9-5.  Fordham answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame on a two-run single from Pat Gardner, putting the game out of reach.
 
Shane McDonald earned the save as he entered the game with the tying run on deck in the eighth.  He got the final four outs, posting two strikeouts in his first career save.  Murphy, who was 0-7 in his career at Fordham entering today, got his second win of the afternoon, allowing two runs in relief.  Starter Brett Kennedy went the first three innings without allowing a run to go with four strikeouts.
 
The offense, which had 11 runs on 14 hits, got a big boost from the running game, as Fordham stole 11 bases.  Leading the attack was Runco, who was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a career-high three stolen bases, while Lundy was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.  Mahoney was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, with Donadio and DeVito having one hit, one RBI, and one stolen base each.
 
The Rams are back in action on Tuesday, March 24^th, when Fordham hosts Wagner in a make-up game from earlier in the month, beginning at 3:30 PM at Houlihan Park.