Box Score March 20, 2011
Box Score
South Orange, N.J. -
The phrase "stealing one" was an appropriate moniker for today's baseball game between Fordham and NJIT in the Rams' final game at the Rawlings Strike Out Cancer Tournament. Fordham posted 13 stolen bases, which set up a number of runs, as the Rams edged the Highlanders, 7-6, in extra innings at Owen T. Carroll Field.
With the win, Fordham snaps a three-game slide to improve to 12-7 on the season, while NJIT falls to 2-7.
Fordham opened the scoring with a three-run second inning. Ryan Maghini started the rally with an infield single, and stole second. After a pair of outs which left Maghini at third, Alex Kenny blistered a single through the left side to score Maghini. Ryan Lee followed to a single to left center, moving Kenny to third, but an errant throw by the NJIT's centerfielder, allowed Kenny to score on the play. Lee then stole second and scored on an RBI-single by Brian Kownacki.
The Rams made it 4-0 in the third, as Joe Russo double down the left field line, while Stephen McSherry was hit by a pitch. After a groundout advanced the runners, Russo scored on an RBI-groundout by Tim Swatek.
The Highlanders rallied back for three runs in the bottom of third, cutting the Rams' lead to 4-3. The inning was highlighted by a two-run double by D.J. Roche.
The score remained that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Tyler Kapp connected on a two-run single off Fordham reliever Chris Pike, giving the Highlanders their first lead of the game at 5-4.
The Rams tied the game immediately in the top of the eighth. Swatek singled through the right side to open the inning, and then stole second. Ryan Phelan sacrificed Swatek to third with Kenny driving a single up the middle to score Swatek and tie the game.
The game went into extra innings still tied at five until the 11th inning, as Lee singled to left center and Kownacki was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with no outs. Pinch hitter Ryan David then put down a perfect sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher, allowing the runners to move up a base. After an intentional walk to Russo loaded the bases, McSherry ripped a two-run single to right, scoring both Lee and Kownacki to grab a 7-5 lead.
NJIT tried to come back in the bottom of the inning against Pike, as the leadoff man reached base. However, Swatek would come in from right field to pitch and got three straight ground outs to end the game in favor of the Rams for his second save of the season.
Pike (2-0) was outstanding out of the bullpen for Fordham, throwing a season-high 6.2 innings of relief with a season-high seven strikeouts to earn the victory. Starter Daniel Munday went the first 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts.
At the plate, the Rams stole 13 bases in the game, which is the most for the Rams since they swiped 12 bases against Wagner in 2001. Kownacki had a career-high four stolen bases, as he reached bases four times in the game, including a pair of hits. Matthew DeSilva, Swatek, and Maghini each had two stolen bases with Chris Walker, Russo, and Lee rounding out the thievery with one steal each.
In addition to Kownacki's multi-hit game, Kenny was 2-for-5 with two RBI, while Lee was 2-for-6 with two runs scored. Russo reached base five times in the game, going 2-for-3 with three walks with Swatek also having a pair of hits.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, March 22nd, when the Rams meet the Stony Brook Seawolves for the second time in four days at 3:30 PM. The game will be played at Houlihan Park, which is different from the original schedule, due to construction at Stony Brook's field.
