Box Score May 22, 2010
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
Even though it was known before the game started that Fordham University would be going to the 2010 Atlantic10 Baseball Championship win or lose, the Rams wanted to build some momentum going into the tournament. That momentum was supplied tonight by sophomore pitcher Jordan Grangard, who threw five and two-thirds innings of two-hit ball, and sophomore Nick Martinez, who drove in three runs, as they led the Rams to a 9-3 regular season ending victory over Duquesne at Houlihan Park.
With the win, the Rams finish with a 15-12 Atlantic 10 record, 21-33 overall, which ties Fordham with Saint Louis for fourth in the conference. But the Rams hold the tiebreaker over the Billikens and will be the fourth seed at the championship and will open the tournament on Wednesday by taking on the fifth-seeded Saint Louis squad at Campbell Field in Camden, N.J.
The game was the final game played by Duquesne, who announced that it was discontinuing the sport prior to the start of the season. The Dukes close out their final season with a 16-40 overall record, 10-17 in the conference.
The Dukes jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Grangard as, with one out in the Duquesne first, Andrew Heck doubled, took third on a ground out and scored when Grangard couldn't handle Mark Tracy's slow roller down the first base line.
But the Rams struck back in the home half of the first, scoring four times to take the lead for good. Ryan Lee opened the Fordham first with a triple and he scored when Brian Kownacki followed with a single. A Ryan McCrann single moved Kownacki to second where he would score on a Chris Walker double to left. After Angelo Ponte walked to load the bases, McCrann came in on a Mike Mobbs fielder's choice. Martinez plated Walker with the fourth run of the inning with another fielder's choice.
The Dukes cut the deficit to two, 4-2, with a run in the top of the third without the benefit of a hit but the Rams added two runs in the home half of the inning to take a 6-2 lead. With one out, Walker doubled to left, increasing his school record to 24 on the year, and he scored when Duquesne first baseman Nick Berger couldn't handle the throw on Ponte's ground ball to short. One out later, Martinez singled in Ponte to put the Rams up 6-2.
Grangard would allow just two more base runners to reach third, the second coming in the sixth when Anthony DeFabio's pop up in the infield was misplayed, allowing DeFabio to reach second ,and he moved to third on a ground out. With two outs and runners on the corners, Rich Anastasi came on to relive Grangard and it only took him one pitch to get out of the inning, inducing pinch hitter Chris Kimmeth to pop out to end the threat.
After the Dukes pulled to within three, 6-3, on a Heck sacrifice fly, Fordham put the game away with three runs in the eighth. Kownacki started the rally for the Rams, opening the inning with a triple. McCrann followed with a walk and he stole second. One out later, pinch hitter
Michael Taddei put down a perfect suicide squeeze, plating Kownacki. With two outs, Martinez singled in pinch runner Matt DeSilva and
P.J. Como was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A walk to
Ryan Maghini forced in Mobbs with the third run of the inning.
Anastasi made quick work in the ninth, getting Mike Ganley to fly out and then fanning Kimmeth and Joe Lombardo to end the game.
Grangard (2-2) struck out four while allowing two runs, one earned, to pick up his second win of the year while Anastasi threw three and one-third innings of one-hit ball, striking out four, to pick up his third save.
Lee, Kownacki, McCrann and Walker all collected two hits for the Rams. Walker's RBI brings his season total to 56, fourth best on the Fordham single season RBI list, two behind Tom Stein (1997). His two doubles bring his total base count to 118 on the year, tying him with Brad Howland (1988) for the sixth best single season total in school history.
Fordham will open the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championships on Wednesday at Campbell Field in Camden, N.J. by facing the Saint Louis Billikens at 12:00 p.m.
