Box Score March 18, 2012
Box Score
South Orange, N.J. -
After coming out on the wrong end in his first four starts of the season, Fordham pitcher Joseph Charest put it all together on Sunday afternoon against the Maine Black Bears, throwing a complete game, four-hitter in a 3-2 win at the Strike Out Cancer Tournament in South Orange, N.J. It was his first career complete game and saw him take a perfect game into the seventh inning.
With the win, Fordham moves to 7-12 on the season, while Maine falls to 6-11.
Fordham opened the scoring in the second. Tim Swatek opened with a walk and moved to third on a single by Mike Mauri. After a walk to Brendan Maghini loaded the bases, Zach Small lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Swatek for a 1-0 lead.
Fordham extended its lead to 2-0 in the third, when Ryan Maghini drew a walk and stole second. After a ground out advanced Maghini to third, Swatek doubled down the left field line to score Maghini.
The score remained that way behind some excellent pitching from Charest, as well as some solid defense. Charest threw six perfect innings, heading into the seventh.
In the seventh, after striking out the first batter, Charest lost the perfect game bid with a walk to Colin Gay, and then the no-hitter on a single by Alex Calbick. After another single loaded the bases, Eric White drew a walk to force in a run. Charest though would get out of the inning without further damage behind another strikeout and a ground out.
Maine then tied the game at two in the eighth, when Mike Connolly doubled to left and then scored on a double to left center by Gay.
Fordham battled right back in the ninth to regain the lead at 3-2. With one out, Matthew Cianci doubled to right, but the right fielder tried to bare hand the ball and missed, allowing Cianci to reach third. Stephen McSherry then made it first and third as he was hit by a pitch. Ryan Maghini then hit a ground ball back to the pitcher Steve Trask. Trask looked for the inning ending double play, but his throw went into centerfield, allowing Cianci to score from third.
Charest and the Fordham defense did the rest, getting three ground outs in the ninth to seal the game. In total, Charest induced 17 ground outs in the game.
Charest (1-4) earned his first win of the season behind the best performance of his career, pitching a complete game, four-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out three.
At the plate, Mauri tied a career-high by collecting three hits on the day, while Swatek and Small each had a double and an RBI. Both Mauri and Charest were selected to the Strike Out Cancer All-Tournament team, following the last game.
The Fordham baseball team returns home for its next game on Tuesday, March 20th, when the Rams host Stony Brook at 3:30 PM at Houlihan Park.
