Baseball Opens A-10 Series with 4-3 Win Over Saint Louis

In a thrilling finish to a baseball game, Fordham shortstop Joseph DeVito and sophomore first baseman Matthew Kozuch made the game-saving throw and stretch to get Saint Louis' Jake Henson on a 6-3 putout with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to end a 4-3 win by the Rams over the Billikens at Houlihan Park on Friday.
 
With the win, Fordham improved to 16-24 overall, 7-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis moved to 28-13 on the year, 9-4 in the league.
 
Fordham got the scoring started in the second inning after a pair of two-out walks to Mark Donadio and Ryan McNally.  Joseph DeVito followed with a double to the right center gap, scoring both runners for a 2-0 lead.
 
The score remained at 2-0 into fifth, as Fordham starter Greg Weissert retired the first 12 batters of the game, six of which were via strikeout.  However, in the fifth, Saint Louis' Danny Murphy singled through the left side for the Billikens' first baserunner of the game.  Murphy later scored on a double down the right field line by Alex King, to put the score at 2-1.
 
Fordham answered back with two runs in the bottom of the frame, extending the lead to 4-1.  DeVito started the rally with a one-out single to center and moved to third on a ground rule double by Jason Lundy.  Joseph Runco then hit a ground ball to shortstop that DeVito tried to score on, but he was called out at the plate, leaving runners at first and second.  After a double steal by Lundy and Runco, Ian Edmiston came through with a two-run single to left center, scoring both runners.

 
The Billikens chipped away at the Fordham lead, pulling to within one, 4-3, after scoring single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
 
In the ninth, Saint Louis threatened to rally back getting two walks and an infield single with two away to load the bases for Jake Henson.  Fordham reliever Jimmy Murphy got Henson to hit a chopper toward DeVito at shortstop, who just got the throw to Matthew Kozuch to get the sliding Henson at first base and end the game in favor of the Rams.
 
Weissert earned the win improving to 4-4 on the year, as he threw a career-long 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts.  Murphy recorded his third save of the year, giving up three hits in 1.2 innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.  Saint Louis starter Clay Smith took his first loss of the season, as he moved to 7-1, allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.
 
At the plate, DeVito was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Edmiston was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
 
The same two teams will match-up on Saturday for game two of this series with game time set for 5:00 PM.