March 16, 2011
Fordham Baseball Game Notes | Live Stats
Buies Creek, N.C. -
The Fordham baseball team looks for its third straight win, as the Rams travel to Campbell University for a mid-week match-up with the Camels at Taylor Field. It will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
LHP Dan Sorine (0-0) vs. TBA | Live Stats
SCOUTING CAMPBELL: The Camels come into today's contest with a 7-9 record, but are 6-3 at home.
Offensively, Campbell is hitting just a shade under the .300 mark at .298, while averaging 7.2 runs per game. The Camels will run when given the chance, as Campbell has 34 stolen bases in 45 attempts.
Individually, Jimmy Brenneman leads the squad with a .385 batting average, 24 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases, while Josh Holskey and Cameron Nelson are tied for the team lead in RBI with 13.
On the hill, Campbell has a team ERA of 7.04 while allowing a .293 opponent batting average. On the hill, Campbell may throw Frank Zier as their starter. He has made two starts this season, posting a 3.12 ERA and eight strikeouts in 8.2 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT: 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 improved to 11-4 on the season, while Charleston Southern fell to 9-7.
The game would head into extra innings knotted at seven, until the top of the 12th inning, where Nick 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, Joe Russo continued the extra inning rally with a walk, moving Rob McCunney to second. Brian 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 Brantley Meier. Jaren 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 Ryan 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 Ryan Lee were both 2-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI. Chris Walker also added two hits and two RBI in the win.
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKIN': Ryan Lee is hitting .400 (16-40) over his first ten games of the season, to go with 11 runs scored and nine RBI... Joe Russo is on a career-long eight-game hit streak. In that streak, he is batting .406 (13-32) with three doubles, four RBI, and nine runs scored... Brian Kownacki is hitting .368 (14-38) over his last nine games, posting nine RBI, seven runs scored and six stolen bases... Stephen McSherry is hitting .360 (9-25) with six RBI over his last seven games... Nick Martinez is hitting .314 (11-35) over his last nine games with nine runs scored, two home runs, and five RBI, while on the mound, he pitched a career-long four innings of relief in the series finale win over Charleston Southern... On the hill, Max Krakowiak is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 innings with 23 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .200... Chris Pike has three saves and a win in six appearances out of the bullpen to go with a 1.04 ERA, 19 strikeouts, and .200 opponent batting average... Rich Anastasi is 3-0 in six appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 3.86 ERA and 14 strikeouts... Brian Pendergast has a 2.52 ERA in four starts, posting 16 strikeouts and a 1-2 record in 25.0 innings... Tim Swatek has 14 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 11.2 innings of work to open the year.
PITCHING & DEFENSE: The old baseball moniker of pitching and defense wins ball games has come true so far in 2011 for the Fordham Rams.
With an 11-4 record, the Fordham pitching staff boasts a 3.64 ERA, five saves, and an opponent batting average of .272. The Rams also have 114 strikeouts in 136 innings pitched, compared to 69 walks.
Defensively, the Rams are at a .964 fielding percentage, having committed 22 errors in 15 games.
For comparison, the Rams were 4-11 with a 5.73 ERA through 15 games last year to go with 71 walks to 89 strikeouts, while defensively, Fordham had 29 errors and a .952 fielding percentage.
UPCOMING GAMES: Following today's game, the Rams return to local action as the team participates at the Strike Out Cancer Tournament, hosted at Seton Hall, March 18th-20th. Fordham will have single games against Seton Hall, Stony Brook, and NJIT. Fordham will then have a mid-week match-up with Stony Brook on March 24th.
