Box Score March 11, 2009
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Bronx, N.Y. - With grey skies looming overhead for most of the game, the Fordham baseball team delighted the fans who came out for the 2009 home opener with a 6-5 win against the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) Bears, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
With the score tied, 5-5, one out and the bases-loaded in the top of the eighth, what better a time for senior Chris Kaible to make his 2009 pitching debut. The experienced Kaible not only came in to strike out his first batter and get the next batter to fly out to center field, but then pitched a perfect ninth inning to record the win after the Rams took the lead in the bottom of the eighth on a base-loaded, one out Ryan David single.
"Chris did a great job and deserves a lot of credit," remarks Fordham head coach Nick Restaino. "He was presented with a tough jam and did an outstanding job getting out of it."
In the beginning of the game, the Bears started things off early, capitalizing off of a shaky Fordham defense as two Rams errors helped Denten Neill score on a Brian Smith single to give the Bears an early 1-0 advantage.
Fordham responded right back, getting on the board for the third-straight game in the opening frame. The Rams' run came off a Stephen McSherry single that scored Bobby DiNardo.
Senior Ryan McCrann singled to open up the bottom of the second and then would steal second and advance to third on a wild throw by NYIT catcher George Carroll. Freshman Brian Kownacki knocked in McCrann with a single to center field to put the Rams up, 2-1.
Fordham tacked on another run in the bottom of the third when McSherry roped a double to left-center field, scoring David, who was on first after leading off the inning with a single to left.
The Bears got one back in the top of the fifth, as Neill found his way across the plate from third on a Jordan Grangard wild pitch. NYIT then tied the game in the top of the sixth when freshman Mike Morrelli plated Eric Cos from third with a single.
The Rams regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth, when Kownacki drew a two out walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Danny Leach then stepped to the plate to hit his first double of the season to score Kownacki.
NYIT came right back with a run in the seventh off of a Neill homerun over the right-centerfield fence.
McSherry recorded his second RBI of the game in the bottom of the seventh, as he singled to centerfield to score David from second, putting Fordham back on top, 5-4.
The pesky NYIT bats would not give up with Cos starting off the eighth inning with a ground-rule double to center. Cos would have scored on the ensuing Carroll single up the middle if it were not for Fordham second baseman Nick Martinez making a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield.
Bobby Coyle would give up one more walk to load the bases, ending his day and giving senior pitcher John Young the daunting task of trying to get out of a bases loaded, no out situation. Young got his first batter to pop out in foul territory, but then issued a walk to Matthew Carr, advancing all runners with Cos coming in to tie the game, 5-5.
That would be it for Young as head Restaino then went to Kaible to get the Rams out of the jam.
Fordham did not waste any time in the bottom of the eighth with Kownacki singling for his second hit of the game. A Leach single would have put runners on second and third, but a failed double-steal left Kownacki high and dry at third, leaving Leach the lone runner on base at second.
Alex Kenny and Bobby DiNardo then drew back-to-back walks, setting the stage for David to come to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. David did not disappoint, cracking a single to right field that would ultimately prove to be the game-winning hit.
Kaible came back out in the bottom of the ninth to strike out two of his three batters faced to close out his first win of the season.
At the plate, Stephen McSherry knocked in two runs on three hits Ryan David went 3-4 with two runs and one RBI. Ryan McCrann tacked on a 3-4, one run day as well with Danny Leach and Brian Kownacki adding two hits a piece.
Fordham will now hit the road for the next eight games. The Rams will play a four-game series at Wofford College, starting on Friday, March 13, and then will face Liberty College on Wednesday, March 18, before opening up the Atlantic 10 season at Charlotte on March 20 with a three-game set.
