April 5, 2009
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
Bronx, N.Y. - After starting out the 2009 season 6-1 in Atlantic 10 play, the Fordham baseball team was swept by Saint Joseph's University in the Sunday doubleheader with 11-5 and 6-5 losses.
Fordham is now 10-17 on the year (6-3 Atlantic 10) while Saint Joseph's improves to 10-15-1 (5-4 Atlantic 10).
In game one, Jake Rabinowitz could not repeat his standout performance from a week ago as the senior gave up four runs, two earned, while only getting through the first out of the second inning before being taken out of the game.
That left the Rams batters an early 4-0 deficit that they chipped away at with a run in the bottom of the third. With two outs and Mike Mobbs reaching on an infield single, Bobby DiNardo laced a single to left that was misplayed by the Hawks' left fielder, enabling Mobbs to score on the defensive mistake.
Saint Joseph's would get that run back, in the top of the fifth, and put another run on the board in the top of the sixth with both runs coming in on sacrifice flies.
The Rams' battled back in the bottom of the sixth, bringing in four runs to cut the lead to 6-5. The inning began with the bases loaded and no one out for sophomore Chris Walker. His sacrifice fly brought home DiNardo and left two men on for freshman Stephen McSherry's first career homerun with his three-run shot to right topping out the Rams' runs in the inning.
Stellar relief work from Saint Joseph's Chris Hildreth shut down the Fordham bats for the rest of the game while the Hawks brought in a run in the top of the eighth and four runs in the ninth to take game one, 11-5.
It was the Rams who got things going in game two with two quick runs in the first. DiNardo's first triple of the season would bring in one of the runs in the inning while he would later score on an Angelo Ponte sacrifice fly.
Saint Joseph's responded with two runs in the top of the second and took a 5-2 lead with three runs in the top of the fourth on two hits, two hit batters and a wild pitch.
Neither team could bring a run across the plate until the bottom of the eighth when the Rams cut the lead to 5-3 on Shane Fox's double to right-center field that brought home DiNardo from second.
The ninth inning was the most interesting inning on the day as the Hawks added an insurance run in their final scoring opportunity before the Rams came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth. John Kahn led off the inning with a base hit followed by a single to right by pinch hitter Ryan McCrann. Both runners advanced on a passed ball while Kahn would score on Alex Kenny's ground out to third. Brian Kownacki brought in another Fordham runner with a sacrifice fly to center.
That left Fordham down only one run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs for fifth-year senior Danny Leach. He kept things going with a walk to bring the potential winning run to the plate. Who else would a team want in this situation that DiNardo, who leads the Atlantic 10 in homeruns and slugging? Unfortunately DiNardo's swing lifted the ball just a few feet short of the fence as Saint Joseph's right fielder Ben Wendle squeezed the final and very long out of the game.
John Flanagan takes his first loss of the year on six innings of work where he gave up five runs on seven hits, three walks and three strike outs while hitting six batters. Saint Joseph's Randy Mower went eight innings while giving up only four runs for his third win of the season as Matt Barnathan picked up his first save on the year.
At the plate, Bobby DiNardo went 6-9 on the day with three hits in each game. The senior also drove in one run while scoring twice. Shane Fox also had a multi-hit second game while Stephen McSherry had three RBI.
Next up for Fordham is Williams College as both teams will celebrate 150 years of outstanding baseball tradition with a game on Tuesday, April 7, at 4:00 PM at Houlihan Park before the Rams hit road for a three-game set with Duquesne University on Friday, April 10.
