March 16, 2009
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Spartanburg, S.C. - The rains finally subsided and play got underway as the Fordham baseball team split the Sunday doubleheader against the Wofford College Terriers, losing the first game 11-5 while taking game two, 8-1.
"The guys really rallied behind (J.P.) Mack's outing in the second game," notes head coach Nick Restaino. "Bobby DiNardo's three homeruns helped a great deal, but the entire team was really driving the ball."
In the first game, starting pitcher Max Krakowiak got into trouble early, putting runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom of the first. Wofford's Michael Gilmartin knocked in the first Terrier run with a long single to center and was later thrown out at second by Fordham center fielder Danny Leach when trying to stretch the hit into a double. The single scored Alex Lee and moved Josh McKinney to third who would later score on a K. Diamaduros sacrifice fly.
The Terriers tacked on an another run to go up, 3-0, in the bottom of the second. Wofford opened up the inning with runners on first and third, once again, when Fordham second basemen Joe Russo misplayed a Neil Robinette fly ball that allowed Kyle Behrendt to score from third.
Fordham got onto the board with a run in the top of the third inning. Leach got on first with a base hit to right-center field and got into scoring position with his seventh stolen base of the year. He would be knocked by a Bobby DiNardo ground ball that was misplayed by Wofford shortstop Michael Gilmartin.
Wofford answered right back in the bottom half of the frame with one run to make it 4-1. Things got going for the Terrier's offense with a Gilmartin double to the right-center and would then be plated by a Diamaduros single to right.
The Terriers brought one more runner home in the bottom of the fourth. Robinette started things off with a double to right field and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by James Foster. A Lee ground ball to Fordham shortstop Brian Kownacki was deep enough to safely bring Robinette home to put Wofford up 5-1.
Freshman Stephen McSherry got things going for the Rams in the bottom of the fifth with a double down the right field line with the bases loaded, scoring all three runners. The bases-loaded situation began with DiNardo drawing a walk followed by a single to center field by freshman Chris Walker. They both advanced to third base on a weak roller to the pitcher by Ryan McCrann. Pinch hitter Michael Taddei then stepped up and drew a walk to put runners on all bases.
Wofford got two of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth with a bases-loaded single by Mike McDonnell off of relief pitcher Daniel Munday. The damage could have been worse if it were not for Fordham shortstop Brian Kownacki's diving stop to keep a ball in the infield to start an inning-ending rundown to get out Behrendt.
Back came the Rams with a run in the top of the six to make it a 7-5 game. Kownacki got things going off of relief pitcher Drew Sheridan as a Danny Leach single to right moved Kownacki to third. Mike Mobbs hustled down the line on his ground ball to avoid the double-play to allow Kownacki to score.
The Terriers put two more on the board to make it a 9-5 game in the bottom of the seventh. They got their runs in with men on second and third with two outs scoring on a Robinette single to right field. Wofford would tack on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring in game one.
Krakowiak took his third loss of the year while giving up seven runs on ten hits in 4.1 innings pitched. At the plate, Danny Leach and Ryan McCrann each had multi-hit games while Stephen McSherry led the team with three RBI.
Game two was of the seven-inning variety and started began with a bang when Bobby DiNardo crushed his fifth homerun over the centerfield fence to give the Rams an early 1-0 lead.
Senior Angelo Ponte used his fifth start behind the plate to tag a two-run homerun in the top the second to give the Rams a 3-0 advantage.
The long ball continued in the top of the third with DiNardo hitting his second of the game, this time taking a pitch over the right field fence. The Rams scored their first run that was not of the homerun variety later on in the third with Ryan McCrann hitting a double in his third straight game, scoring Michael Taddei from first. Taddei would later score from second a Ponte single.
DiNardo was not done at the plate as he, in the top of the seventh, knocked his third homerun of the game with Leach on second to put the Rams up 8-0.
Starting pitcher J.P. Mack ran it to a bit of trouble in the seventh, giving up his first run of the game after walking the lead-off batter and a double to the right-center gap to Behrendt. But Mack would settle down, getting the last two batters out to close out the game, pitching all seven innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out seven.
At the plate, DiNardo paced the offense, going 3-4 with three homeruns, four RBI and one walk. Angelo Ponte added three RBI with one homerun while Danny Leach and Ryan McCrann each had two hits.
The Rams and the Terriers will square off one final time on Monday, March 16, at 7:00 PM.
NOTES: Bobby DiNardo's three homerun game is not the most in a single-game for the Rams. That honor goes to Tonny Russo, who hit four homeruns against Columbia in 1982.
