Box Score March 14, 2011
Box Score
Charleston, S.C. - The Fordham-Charleston Southern baseball series finale finished with a little bit of everything on Monday at CSU Ballpark. After 12 innings, over four hours of play, and 42 total players used, it was Ryan David's RBI-single in the top of the 12th that proved to be the game-winning hit, as the Rams topped the Buccaneers, 10-7, to split their four-game series.
With the win, Fordham improves to 11-4 on the season, while Charleston Southern falls to 9-7.
For the first time in the series, Charleston Southern struck first with a run in the first inning. Brantley Meier was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on a single by Jaren Sustar. After a wild pitch by Fordham starter John Flanagan advanced the runners, Meier scored on a fielder's choice by Matt Still.
Flanagan would give up another wild pitch and a walk later in the inning, and was replaced by Ryan Fedak with two on and one out. Fedak would get the Rams out of the jam with a pop out and a fly out to remain behind by only one run.
The Buccaneers extended their lead to 3-0 in the third on a two-run home run by Derek Smith, scoring Still, who reached on an error.
Charleston Southern tacked on another run in the fourth, as Blake Hunt and Tom Burkett drew back-to-back walks off Fordham reliever Joseph Charest, who came in for Fedak. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, with Hunt later scoring on a ground out by Brandon McKinney.
The Rams finally got the bats going in the fifth, as Tim Swatek walked to lead off the inning, followed by a Nick Martinez single to right. Ryan David and Ryan Lee connected for back-to-back RBI-singles to score both Swatek and Martinez.
After a pitching change, Chris Walker plated the third run of the inning with a single to center, scoring David. Joe Russo then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner by the throw went errant, loading the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Stephen McSherry drew a walk, forcing in Lee to knot the game at four. The Rams threat however would be stopped there, as Ryan Maghini's ground ball to third was thrown home for a force out, while Swatek, the 10th hitter to the plate in the inning, struck out.
The Buccaneers grabbed the lead right back in the bottom of the fifth, as Sustar opened with a single to left off Fordham reliever Ryan DeMartino, and stole second. After a walk, Smith ripped a single to center, scoring Sustar for a 5-4 lead.
CSU added two more runs in the sixth, scoring runs on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Sustar, to make it a 7-4 ballgame.
Fordham put together a ninth inning rally to overcome CSU's three-run lead. David was hit by a pitch by Buccaneers' closer Corey Deighan to start the inning. The Rams then got back-to-back RBI-doubles from Lee and Walker, closing the Rams' deficit to 7-6. After a pitching change, Russo reached on a fielding error, allowing pinch runner
Matthew DeSilva to go to third. Kownacki then delivered an RBI-single up the middle to score DeSilva and tie the game.
With runners at first and second, Mike Mauri advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, giving Fordham a chance to take their first lead of the game with only one out. After an intentional walk to Maghini loaded the bases, Charleston Southern's Anthony Markham got Fordham pinch hitter Chris Kimmeth to pop out for the second out, and then got Martinez to fly out to end the inning.
The game would head into extra innings knotted at seven, until the top of the 12th inning, where Martinez singled and stole second. David then ripped a single to right to score Martinez for the go-ahead run, 8-7. After a pair of outs, Russo continued the extra inning rally with a walk, moving Rob McCunney to second. Kownacki followed with a two-run triple down the right field line, scoring both Russo and McCunney for a 10-7 lead.
Martinez, who came in as a relief pitcher from second base back in the eighth inning, got the first two outs in the bottom of the 12th before allowing a walk to Meier. Sustar kept the Buccaneers alive with a single, moving Meier to second. Martinez though would strike out pinch-hitter Brian Welch to end the game in favor of the Rams.
In all, the Rams used seven pitchers in the game with Martinez (1-0) as the final one. He earned the win with four innings of three-hit relief with two strikeouts, while going 2-for-6 with two runs scored at the plate. Fordham also got strong relief appearances from Fedak (2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R) and Jonathan Reich (2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 K).
At the plate, Kownacki had the big day, tying career-highs with four hits and three RBI, while David and Lee were both 2-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI. Walker also added two hits and two RBI in the win.
Charleston Southern used five pitchers in the game with Markham (2-2) taking the loss, as he allowed three runs on five hits over the final four innings of the game.
The Fordham baseball team will now continue their road trip on Wednesday, March 16th, when the Rams play at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Game time is set for 3:00 PM.
