Box Score May 7, 2011
Box Score
Bronx, N.Y. -
On a day where the Rams welcomed back a number of alumni and honored the team's former coach Gil McDougald, Fordham received another outstanding pitching effort from the freshmen duo of Chris Pike and Tim Swatek, as they held the Hawks to just six hits, in a 3-2 victory at Houlihan Park.
With the win, Fordham snaps a three-game slide, improving to 28-19 overall, 9-8 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Joseph's falls to 15-29 on the year, 6-11 in the league. The win also keeps Fordham on pace with Xavier and St. Bonaventure, who also won today, as all three teams are tied for the final playoff spot for the Atlantic 10 Championship with seven games remaining.
The Rams struck first off Saint Joseph's starter Bryan Penalo, who got the emergency start for Chad Simendinger, who was the probable starter today for the Hawks. Nick Martinez led off the game with a single to left and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. After a pair of outs, Ryan David singled through the left side to score Martinez.
The score remained that way until the fourth, when the Hawks tied the game at one. Brett Tiagwad drew a walk and scored on a double by Mike Coleman. On the play, the ball got away from Fordham and Coleman tried to score, but David recovered and threw the ball to Fordham pitcher Chris Pike, who applied the tag at home, keeping the game tied.
Fordham quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the inning, as the Rams loaded the bases with no outs, on a single by Tim Swatek, a walk to Brian Kownacki, and a bunt single by Stephen McSherry. Swatek then scored on a double play to make it, 2-1 Rams.
The score remained that way until the eighth, as the Hawks loaded the bases with one out on a single, an error, and a hit by pitch. Eddie Palmer, who led off with a single, scored from third on a wild pitch to tie the game at two, but Pike however, anchored down to strike out Mike Coleman for the second out of the inning. Greg Kumpel then hit a sharp ground ball to third, which Kownacki made a diving stop and throw to end the inning and keep the game tied.
The deciding run of the game came in the bottom of the inning, when Kownacki led off with a base hit and stole second. After a pair of strikeouts, Ryan Maghini hit a ground ball to third, but unlike Kownacki's play in the top half of the inning, Hawks' third baseman Kevin Kratochwill's throw was low and in the turf, getting by Kevin Taylor at first, allowing Kownacki to score from second for a 3-2 lead.
The Hawks would have a final chance in the ninth, as Pike walked Taylor, and was pinch run for by Tim Craig. Pike would get one final out on a fly ball, before Swatek came in and struck out both Mike Plakis and Palmer to end the game for his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Pike (6-1) earned his sixth victory of the season, allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work. At the plate, Martinez and David each had a pair of hits, while Swatek had a single hit, extending his hit streak to 11 games.
The same two teams will match up for the rubber game of this series on Sunday, beginning at 1:00 PM.
