Baseball Earns First A-10 Win with 11-2 Victory over George Mason

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The Fordham offense clicked on all cylinders on Thursday afternoon, netting 11 runs on 15 hits, as the Rams opened their Atlantic 10 series with George Mason with an 11-2 win at Houlihan Park.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 9-17 on the year, 1-3 in the Atlantic 10, while George Mason fell to 10-16 overall, 2-5 in the league.
 
Fordham took the early lead in the first inning, taking advantage of a George Mason error.  Joseph Runco reached on an error by the Patriots' third baseman and stole second to start the inning.  Runco then moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a ground out by Matthew Kozuch.
 
The Rams made it 2-0 in the second inning, once again taking advantage of a George Mason error.  With one out, Ryan Mahoney lined a single to the left center gap that the leftfielder overran, allowing Mahoney to reach second.  Ian Edmiston then connected a double to right field to score Mahoney from second.
 
George Mason got on the board in the third inning, as Luke Willis tripled to right center with two outs and scored on a single by Michael Smith.
 
Fordham increased its lead to 6-1 in the fourth, as Edmiston did some more damage with an RBI-single down the left field line to score Mark Donadio from second base.  After a base hit by Joseph DeVito, Ryan McNally connected on a three-run home run to left for his first of the season.

 
After the Patriots scored once in the seventh, the Rams responded with two in the bottom of the frame to make it an 8-2 game.  The Rams loaded the bases with one out and Charles Galiano lined a single through the left side to score McNally from third.  On the play, the leftfielder overran the ball again, which allowed Runco to score as well.
 
The Rams tacked on three more runs in the eighth for the 11-2 edge.  After a walk to Mahoney, Edmiston just missed a home run to left by about two feet, as the ball bounced off the wall for a double.  DeVito then lined a double to the right center gap, scoring both runners.  McNally then singled down the left field line to score DeVito.
 
The 11 runs of offense were more than enough for the Rams' pitching staff, as five pitchers combined for the win.  Starter Greg Weissert was awarded the victory to improve to 2-3, as he struck out three over the first two innings.  Ben Greenberg pitched the next two innings, allowing a run on three hits, while David Manasek pitched two shutout innings with three strikeouts.  Jimmy Murphy threw the seventh and eighth innings, allowing one run on three hits, with Cody Johnson pitching a scoreless ninth.
 
At the plate, the Rams' 7-8-9 hitters had the big days, combining for nine hits, four of which were the extra-base variety, six runs scored, and eight RBI.  McNally tied a career-high with three hits, while setting a new career-high with four RBI.  Edmiston was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, with DeVito also going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
 
The same two teams match-up at 11:00 AM on Friday for game two of the series.