March 5, 2011
Radford Box Score
| Towson Box Score
Winston Salem, N.C. - A late eighth inning rally by the Radford Highlanders snapped the Fordham baseball team's seven-game win streak on Saturday, however the Rams rallied back for a 16-9 win over the Towson Tigers in the second game of the day, as Fordham improved its record to 8-2 on the season.
In the opening game of the day, Radford's Zach Costello hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to squeeze out a 5-4 victory over the Rams, ending Fordham's win streak at seven.
The Highlanders opened the scoring immediately in the first, as Jeff Kemp hit a solo home run to left, his first of the season.
The Rams knotted game at one in the top of the fifth, as Joe Russo connected for a two-out single, and scored on an RBI-triple from Brian Kownacki.
Fordham then snagged a 3-1 lead in the sixth as Nick Martinez led off the inning with a solo home run to left, his first of the season. Ryan Lee followed with a double, and scored on a two-out single by Kownacki.
Radford pulled within 3-2 in the seventh, as the Highlanders loaded the bases on a single and two hit by pitches. Radford would score only one run in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Brett Mollenhauer.
The Highlanders then grabbed a 5-3 lead with three runs in the bottom of the eighth of Fordham reliever Tim Swatek. Cory Cook got things started with a two-out double, followed by an RBI-single by Daniel Wright to tie the game at three. Zach Costello then hit a two-run home run to left, his first of the season, to give Radford a 5-3 lead.
The Rams tried to rally in the ninth, as Kownacki and Stephen McSherry led off with back-to-back singles with Matt DeSilva pinch-running for McSherry. After a strikeout, Kownacki and DeSilva pulled off a double steal with Ryan Maghini then knocking in Kownacki with a ground out with DeSilva taking third on the play to make it, 5-4. However, Abram Williams got Ryan David to ground out to end the ball game in favor of the Highlanders.
For Fordham, starter Max Krakowiak received a no-decision, as he went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts. Swatek (1-1) was charged with the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in one inning of work.
At the plate, Kownacki was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI, while Lee was 3-for-4 with a run scored.
In game two of the day, the Rams put on an offensive clinic scoring 16 runs on 17 hits, led by Chris Walker, who was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI, to defeat the Towson Tigers, 16-9.
Towson opened with a 5-0 lead by the top of the second, but Fordham responded with an eight-run second inning, highlighted by a three-run double by McSherry and a two-run double by Swatek.
After Towson got a run back in the fourth, Fordham put a five runs on the board in the bottom half of the fourth to lead, 13-6, highlighted by an RBI-single from McSherry.
The Rams would tack on a run in the fifth on an RBI-single from Walker, and two more in the seventh on another single by Walker and a wild pitch to close out the scoring at 16-9.
Fordham reliever Jonathan Reich (1-0) got credit for the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, as seven pitchers were used in the game by the Rams. Besides Walker, McSherry was 3-for-5 with four RBI, while Swatek drove in three. Kownacki and Lee each had two hits and three runs scored with Joe Russo and Martinez each having a pair of hits.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, March 8th, when the Rams host New York Tech at Houlihan Park, beginning at 3:00 PM.
