Box Score April 7, 2012
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
Bronx, N.Y. -
It was a hit parade of sorts on Saturday at Houlihan Park, as the Fordham Rams drove out 27 hits, including six by Tim Swatek, in a doubleheader sweep of the Temple Owls by scores of 6-5 and 9-2. The two wins completed a three-game sweep of the Owls, the first by the Rams since last season, when the Rams earned three victories over George Washington.
With the two wins today, Fordham improves to 14-18 overall, 6-3 in the Atlantic 10, while Temple fell to 12-19 on the year, 0-6 in the league.
In game one, Fordham rallied from a 5-1 deficit to score five unanswered runs to take home the opener, 6-5.
Temple opened the scoring in the second, as Taylor Juran scored from third on an error, but Fordham came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the frame. Mike Mauri was hit by pitch with one out and scored on an RBI-double by Stephen McSherry, his team-leading 10th of the season.
The Owls then rallied for four runs in the third, highlighted by a three-run triple from Matt Elko and an RBI-single from Jabair Kahn.
Fordham answered back in the bottom of the third with three runs to cut the deficit to 5-4. With one out, Tim Swatek tripled down the left field line, and scored on an infield single by Matthew Cianci. Cianci moved to second on a single by Ryan Lee with both runners coming home on a two-run triple from Mauri.
The Rams then knotted the game at five in the fifth, as Lee led off with a single and moved to third on a ground rule double by Ryan Maghini. Mauri then plated Lee with a ground out to tie the game.
Fordham grabbed its first lead of the game in the seventh, when Mauri walked, and excuted a perfect hit-and-run with Brian Kownacki, allowing Mauri to score on Kownacki's double down the left field line.
The Owls threatened to tie the game in the eighth with a runner on second and two outs. Foster Dunigan hit a shallow single to left with pinch runner Bobby Heitzman trying to score on the play, but McSherry made a perfect throw to Ryan Phelan at the plate for the tag, ending the threat.
Fordham reliever Jeremy Adel then locked down the win, posting his fifth save of the year on a 1-2-3 ninth inning, after Rich Anastasi had a scoreless eighth inning. Fordham starter Chris Pike (3-0) settled down after the four-run third inning, giving up just four base runners over his final four innings of work to earn his third victory of the year.
At the plate, Swatek was 3-for-4 with a triple and a run scored, while Mauri was 1-for-2 with a triple, two runs scored, and three RBI. Lee was also 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored with Cianci also having two hits.
In game two, Fordham starter
Joseph Charest threw eight innings of five-hit ball with a career-high five strikeouts to lead the Rams to a 9-2 victory.
Fordham came out ahead quickly scoring twice in the second, third, and fourth innings for a 6-0 lead. In the second, Mauri led off with a double, was sacrificed to third, and scored on an infield single by Kownacki. Kownacki, who reached second on an errant throw, later scored on Joseph Calabrese's RBI-single for a 2-0 lead.
The third inning saw the Rams use the long ball to extend the lead, as McSherry connected for a two-run home run to right, his first of the season, scoring Maghini, who led off with a double.
In the fourth, Fordham added to the lead on an RBI-single from Cianci, and later scored a run on a wild pitch.
The Rams made it 7-0 in the sixth on an RBI-single from Lee, before Temple got on the board with a single run in the top of the seventh.
Fordham capped its scoring with two runs in the eighth inning, as Swatek and Mauri both collected RBI-singles.
Fordham starter Joseph Charest was the beneficiary of the big offensive day, improving to 3-5 on the season, as he gave up only one run on five hits in eight innings, while posting a career-high five strikeouts. John Porter wrapped up the final inning on the mound for Fordham.
At the dish, Swatek again led the way, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Lee was 3-for-5 with an RBI. McSherry was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI with Mauri and Cianci also having two hits apiece.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, April 10th, when the Rams travel to Rutgers for a 3:30 PM start.
