Box Score May 16, 2009
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Bronx, N.Y. - All eyes were on Houlihan Park as the Fordham baseball team swept Temple University with a 7-5 win with the Rams' closing out the regular season on a six-game conference winning streak. With the win, Fordham takes fifth place in the Atlantic 10 and will play the University of Massachusetts in the first round of the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championships.
The Rams finished out the year with a 22-30 (16-11 Atlantic 10) while Temple closes out at 17-32 (11-15 Atlantic 10).
Danny Leach got the Rams going early, leading off with a double in the right-center gap and moved over to third on a Brian Kownacki grounder. After Bobby DiNardo walked to put runners on the corners, Ryan McCrann knocked a base hit through the left side to bring in Leach and put DiNardo on third as he crossed home plate on a fielder's choice.
Fordham put up two more runs in the in the second to go up 4-0. Nick Martinez scored the first of the two runs when he came around to score on a misplayed ball by Temple shortstop Rafel Cordero while Leach brought in John Kahn with his second double of the game.
The Rams were not done scoring as they put up three runs in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 7-0. The first Rams' run was produced by a Martinez single to center that brought home Ponte from second while Kahn poked a single through the left side for his second base-hit of the evening that scored Martinez on the play. Fordham did not need a hit to bring in the final run in the inning as Mike Mobbs scored on a wild pitch.
Temple responded with three runs in the top of the fourth as both teams' bats remained quiet until the Owls made it a two-run ballgame with two runs in the eighth to bring the score to 7-5. Unfortunately for Temple, that was all the offense they could put up as Chris Kabile settled down to record a perfect ninth inning after giving up those two eighth inning runs to give the Rams the win.
Greg Dimmling (1-1) gets the win with four innings out of the bullpen, giving up three runs, none earned, on five hits, two walks and one strike out. Tyler Horst (1-5) takes the loss after going only two innings, giving up six of the seven Fordham runs on seven hits, two walks and two strike outs.
Martinez had himself a 2-4 night with two runs and an RBI while Kahn and Leach each went 2-4 with a run scored an RBI.
Next stop for the Rams is Dayton, Ohio for the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championships as they take on UMass on Wednesday, May 20 at 12:00 PM.
