Box Score March 29, 2011
Box Score
Fairfield, Conn. -
Following a weekend which featured three straight complete games, the Fordham baseball team looked for more stellar pitching on Tuesday at Alumni Diamond in Fairfield, Connecticut. Rich Anastasi, Jonathan Reich, and Tim Swatek accommodated that need, as the Fordham trio combined to shut out the Fairfield Stags, 3-0, giving the Rams their third straight win.
With the win, Fordham improved to 15-9 on the season, while Fairfield fell to 7-12.
Fordham opened the scoring in the top of the second, as Chris Walker reached on an error and moved to third on a double by Brian Kownacki. Walker would then score on a wild pitch, followed by Kownacki scoring on a double play ball to make it, 2-0.
Fairfield threatened that lead in the bottom of the frame with runners at first and second and no outs. However, Ryan David would pickoff the runner at second for the first out with Rich Anastasi striking out Carmen DeVito for the second out. A double by Ryan Plourde kept the inning going, but a hot shot ground ball by Mark Skrapits was snagged by Kownacki and fired across the diamond for the final out, keeping Fordham ahead by two.
Anastasi and Jonathan Reich would kept the Fairfield bats at bay through the fifth, retiring 11 straight batters. Reich had a stretch of 19 straight pitches that were either called for strikes or put in play for an out.
The Stags' next base runner came in the sixth on a one-out single by Ryan Furbeck, but Reich quickly erased him, as Chris Horning grounded into an inning-ending double play, keeping the score at 2-0.
Fordham would pick up an insurance run in the ninth to take a 3-0 edge, as Walker singled through the left side and was pinch run for by Matt DeSilva. Skrapits would try a pickoff throw for Fairfield, but the throw went errant, allowing DeSilva to move to second. Kownacki then delivered an RBI-single to left, scoring DeSilva.
Tim Swatek came on to pitch for Reich in the ninth inning, as he retired the Stags in order to give Fordham the 3-0 victory.
Anastasi (4-0) received the win, giving up just three hits in his three innings of work, while Reich allowed only two hits in his five innings of relief. Swatek earned his third save of the season, as he closed out the shutout win. All combined, Anastasi, Reich, and Swatek struck out four batters and did not give up a walk.
At the plate, Kownacki was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Walker was also 2-for-4 with a double. Nick Martinez also had a pair of hits for the Rams.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Saturday, April 2nd, when they host the Massachusetts Minutemen in a non-conference match-up at Houlihan Park, beginning at noon.
