May 15, 2013 - Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham baseball team will close out its 2013 campaign by hosting the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies on a three-game Atlantic 10 series at Houlihan Park beginning with a doubleheader on Thursday starting at noon.
The Rams hold a 25-22 edge in the all-time series, which dates back to 1907, including taking two of three at St. Bonaventure last year.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Thursday (Game 1) - RHP Joseph Charest (2-9) vs. RHP Andrew Revello (5-6)
Thursday (Game 2) - RHP Chris Pike (3-6) vs. RHP Joel Rosencrance (4-3)
Friday - RHP RHP Jimmy Murphy (0-4) vs. RHP Asa Johnson (1-1)
SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE: The Bonnies are 19-26 overall on the season, 8-13 in league play, after splitting a doubleheader with Buffalo on Tuesday. The team is batting .266 on the season with a 5.09 team ERA.
Offensively, Jason Radwan leads the Bonnies with a .409 (72-176) batting average to go with 34 runs scored and 20 RBI, while Billy Urban is hitting .347 (59-170) with 29 runs scored, eleven doubles, and 34 RBI. Joel Rosencrance has a team-high three home runs to go with a team-best 13 doubles.
On the hill, St. Bonaventure will throw the trio of RHP Andrew Revello, Rosencrance and Asa Johnson. Urban, the Bonnies' closer, leads the squad with a 2.63 ERA with five saves while Revello paces the team with five wins and 50 strike outs.
WHO'S HOT: Freshman Joey Runco comes into the game on an eleven-game hitting streak, and is batting .370 over that stretch with 13 runs scored and two steals... Senior Mike Mauri is batting .377 (17-45) over his last ten games with nine runs scored, seven RBI, and two stolen bases.... Junior Chris Pike is 2-0 in his last four starts with a 2.70 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 30 innings... Freshman Brett Kennedy has a 1.80 ERA in his last seven appearances, posting a win, 12 strikeouts and a .150 opponent batting average.
LAST TIME OUT: After being suspended in the top of the seventh inning on Saturday, the Fordham Rams still needed more time to put away the Richmond Spiders in game two of their Atlantic 10 series. It wasn't until the bottom of the 12th inning, when Ryan Lee singled home Ian Edmiston to give Fordham a 2-1 walk-off win over the Spiders. In the series finale, Richmond earned a 6-2 win to capture the series.
In the resumed game, both teams had multiple chances to go ahead but Fordham reliever Brett Kennedy and Richmond reliever Zach Grossfeld held both offenses at bay. Kennedy, who came in right before the game was suspended on Saturday, pitched five shutout innings of relief, allowing two hits and two walks, while striking out five. Grossfeld tossed 4.1 innings of five-hit relief without allowing a run.
Then in the bottom of the 12th inning, Fordham finally broke the tie, as with two outs, Ian Edmiston doubled to right field, while Joseph Runco was hit by a pitch. Senior Ryan Lee, playing in just his second game after returning from injury, followed with a single to center, scoring Edmiston for the walk-off win.
Fordham reliever Rich Anastasi (3-4) earned the win after pitching a scoreless 12th inning. At the plate, Runco finished 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Rob McCunney and Edmiston each had a pair of hits.
In the series finale, Richmond's Jared Mayers tossed a complete game five-hitter, as the Spiders captured the rubber game of the series, 6-2, over the Rams.
Richmond (30-19, 13-8) took control in the first inning, scoring three times, as the Spiders received a two-run double from Mayers and an RBI-single by Tyler Beckwith.
Mayers gave back a run to Fordham (20-32, 6-15) in the bottom of the frame, as the Rams took advantage of a failed pickoff attempt. Runco started the frame with a single to right, extending his season-long hit streak to 11 games. Mayers then threw away a pickoff attempt, allowing Runco to advance to third base. Lee followed with an RBI-ground out, scoring Runco from third.
Richmond added to the lead in the third, as Mayers again helped his own cause, as he and Adam Forrer connected for back-to-back triples to score the Spiders' fourth run of the game. Bret Williams continued the frame with a double to center to score Forrer for a 5-1 lead.
The Rams pulled within 5-2 as Fordham once again took advantage of a failed pickoff attempt by Mayers. This time, Mike Mauri singled to center and then moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt by Mayers. Charles Galiano rallied a single through the right side to score Mauri from third.
Despite a season-high six ground ball double plays by the Rams, the offense could not muster anything more against Mayers, as he improved to 3-1 on the year with a complete game, five-hitter without allowing an earned run.
For Fordham, starter Jimmy Murphy (0-4) took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits in 2.1 innings of work. Reliever J.C. Porter pitched well, giving up only one run over 5.2 innings of work on six hits. Cody Johnson wrapped up the Fordham pitching effort with a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts.
At the plate, Runco was 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Mauri and Galiano had the remaining hits for Fordham.
