Blacksburg, Va. - (March 12, 2008) - Ten years ago, it was a pitcher's duel in the Atlantic 10 Championship, as Fordham knocked off Virginia Tech, 3-1, to win the title. In their first meeting since that game, the Fordham bats came alive, as the Rams upended Virginia Tech, 13-12, at English Field in Blacksburg, Va.
With the win, Fordham has won six in a row to put its record at 6-5, while Virginia Tech drops to 7-8.Fordham jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, as
Danny Leach opened the frame with a single, but the ball was misplayed, allowing Leach to go third. One out later,
Eric Reese singled to left to score Leach.
Virginia Tech then scored two runs in the bottom of the first without a hit. The Hokies drew three walks in the frame off Fordham starter
Andrew Davis, while scoring two runs on a wild pitch. With runners at second and third, Davis was relieved by
Ryan Sheflott, who struck out Ty Hohman to end the inning.
The Hokies extended their lead to 5-1 in the second on an RBI-single by Michael Seaborn and a two-run single from Anthony Sosnoskie.Fordham closed to 5-2 in the top of the third, as Leach and Reese again combined for a run. Leach singled to center with one out, and was able to move to third on a wild pitch. After a walk to
Rich Goulian, Reese grounded into a fielder's choice, allowing Leach to score.
The Rams then exploded for eight runs in the top of the fourth, sending 12 batters to the plate, and taking a 10-5 lead.
Bobby DiNardo got the Rams started with a solo home run to left center, his third of the season. Fordham then got three straight singles from
Ryan David,
P.J. Como, and Leach to load the bases. Goulian followed with a walk to force in David and Reese then hit a ground ball to second, which couldn't be handled, allowing Como to score and tie the game.
With the game tied at five and the bases still loaded,
Chris Kaible drew another walk to force in Leach for a 6-5 lead.
Ryan McCrann and DiNardo then followed with back-to-back two-run doubles to give Fordham a 10-5 lead.
Ryan Sheflott
The Hokies scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, as Jose Cueto drew a walk, and Matt Blow hit a two-run home run to right center, his first of the season.Fordham got those two runs right back in the top of the fifth to lead 12-7. Como reached on an error to start the inning, and then came around to score on a double to left by Leach. After a wild pitch, Leach scored from third on a ground out by Goulian.
The runs kept coming, as Virginia Tech scored two runs in the fifth to make it a 12-9 game. In the frame, the Hokies got an RBI-double by Sean Ryan and an RBI-single from Sosnoskie. The Hokies then closed to within one, 12-11, in the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice in the frame. Austin Wates opened with a triple to right, and scored on a single by Ryan. Ryan later moved to third on a single, and scored on a wild pitch.
Fordham pushed their lead back to two, 13-11, with a single run in the ninth. Como reached on an error, was sacrificed to second, and scored on a single by Goulian.
The Hokies threatened to tie the game in the ninth, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly, but Kaible got Steve Brumby to strike out and end the game.
For Fordham,
Ryan Sheflott (1-0) picked up the win, pitching four innings of relief with four strikeouts, while
Chris Kaible pitched the final two innings for his first save of the season. At the plate,
Danny Leach was 4-for-4 with four runs scored, while
Rich Goulian,
Eric Reese, and
Bobby DiNardo each drove in three runs.
The Rams return to action on Friday, March 14th, as they host Fairfield University at 3:00 PM at Houlihan Park.
