Box Score March 10, 2012
Box Score
Miami, Fla. -
Behind a strong pitching performance from the Fordham duo of Chris Pike and Jeremy Adel and a season-high 14 hits, the Fordham Rams topped the FIU Panthers, 10-8, in a roller coaster affair on Saturday at FIU Baseball Stadium in Miami, Fla.
With the win, Fordham improves to 5-9 on the season, while FIU is now 6-6.
The fireworks for Fordham began the top of the second inning, when Tim Swatek hit his second home run in as many days to give Fordham a 1-0 lead.
The Rams extended the lead in the third to 2-0, when Matthew Cianci walked, was sacrificed to second, and scored on an RBI-single by Ryan Maghini.
After FIU got a run back in the bottom of the third, Fordham scored twice in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Ryan Phelan drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a single by Cianci. After a stolen base by Cianci, Brian Kownacki plated Phelan with a sacrifice fly with Cianci taking third. Cianci then scored on a wild pitch.
The Panthers closed the gap to 4-2 in the fourth, and then rallied for three runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead, highlighted by a two-run double by Aramis Garcia. FIU then tacked on two more runs in the sixth to lead by three, 7-4.
The Rams rallied back with a single run in the seventh and four in the eighth to regain a 9-7 lead. In the seventh, Kownacki reached on an infield single, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a double by
Ryan Maghini.
In the eighth, Stephen McSherry led off with a single and moved to second on a passed ball. Brendan Maghini then reached on an error, followed by a bunt single from Phelan to load the bases. Cianci tied the game at seven with a two-run single, scoring McSherry and Maghini with pinch-runner Matt DeSilva taking second. Kownacki then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but he reached on another error, re-loading the bases. Ryan Lee delivered an infield single, scoring DeSilva from third, while Swatek plated Kownacki with a ground out to give Fordham the 9-7 lead.
The Panthers closed back within one, 9-8, in the bottom of the eighth, scoring a run on a double play, but the Rams got that run right back in the ninth. With runners at second and third and two outs, Kownacki hit a grounder to third, which the third baseman went after a runner and threw late to first, with Kownacki beating the throw and scoring Brendan Maghini.
The seesaw affair overlooked a strong pitching performance by Fordham's duo of Chris Pike and Jeremy Adel. Pike struck out a career-high 12 batters over 5 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits and earning a no-decision. Adel (1-0), pitching in his home state, recorded his first win of the season, tossing 3 1/3 innings of three-hit ball.
At the plate, Cianci posted his first career three-hit game, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Ryan Maghini and Swatek each had two hits and two RBI. McSherry also added a pair of hits with Kownacki picking up two RBI and two runs scored in the game.
The rubber game of this series will take place on Sunday, beginning at 1:00 PM.
