Baseball Rebounds From 15-Inning Game With Offensive Explosion Against URI

Box Score

April 2, 2010

Box Score |  Photo Gallery  | 04/02/10 - Highlights vs. Rhode Island

Bronx, N.Y. - After a four-hour, 15-inning game yesterday, the Fordham baseball team got an early wake-up call with an 11:00 AM start for game two against Rhode Island, and took advantage early and often, posting a 13-2 win at Houlihan Park in the Bronx.

With the win, Fordham improves to 8-17 overall, 3-2 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island drops to 10-13 overall, 3-2 in league play.

Fordham jetted out to a 3-0 lead by the third inning, scoring twice in the second and once in the third. Chris Walker led off the second inning with a double and moved to third on a ground out. After a walk to Brian Kownacki, P.J. Como hit a ground ball to third that Luis Chacon couldn't handle, allowing Walker to score with Kownacki moving to third. Kownacki then scored on a ground out by Ryan Maghini.

In the third, Fordham's Ryan Lee extended his hit streak to seven games with a ground rule double to lead off the inning, and later scored on Walker's second double of the day.

After URI cut the Fordham lead to 3-1 in the fifth on an RBI-single by Chacon, Fordham picked up a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, extending the lead to 7-1, courtesy on the long ball.

Brian Pendergast threw seven strong innings for his second win of the season.

Walker hit a two-run home run to left center in the bottom of the fifth, his first of the season, scoring Ryan McCrann, who reached on an error. Then in the sixth, Mike Mobbs cashed in for his second home run of the season, a two-run shot, scoring Nick Martinez, who had doubled.

Fordham added to their lead with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh to take a 13-1 lead. In the inning, Fordham scored one run on a catcher's interference call with the bases loaded, two runs on a double by Lee, and two more runs on a single by Mobbs. The rally was then capped by an RBI-single by Michael Taddei.

The 13 runs were more than enough for Fordham starter Brian Pendergast (2-1), who cruised through seven innings, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts. Only one base runner reached third base against Pendergast. Joseph Charest and Brando Casalicchio closed out the win with each pitching one inning of relief.

At the plate, Mobbs was 3-for-6 with a home run and four RBI, while Walker was 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, and three RBI. Lee chipped in three hits, including two doubles to go with two RBI with Kownacki also having three hits on the afternoon.

The rubber game of this three-game series is set for 1:00 PM on Saturday.