Baseball Pulls Out Series Opening Win at Dayton

Fordham's Brett Kennedy and Joseph Serrapica combined for a four-hitter, while Ian Edmiston's two-run single in the seventh proved to be the difference maker, as the Rams opened their Atlantic 10 series with the Dayton Flyers with a 3-1 win at Woerner Field in Dayton, Ohio.
 
With the win, Fordham improved to 22-28 on the season, 13-9 in Atlantic 10 play, while Dayton fell to 14-38 on the year, 3-19 in the league.
 
Dayton struck first, getting a run in the first inning for the early lead.  Mitch Coughlin led off with a double to right center, moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a single by Matt Poland.
 
The score remained at 1-0 due to an outstanding performance from Fordham starter Brett Kennedy, as posted nine strikeouts over the first six innings to keep the Rams in striking distance.
 
That effort was rewarded as Fordham rallied for three runs in the seventh to take a 3-1 lead.  Jason Lundy started the frame with a double down the left field line, and move to third on a sacrifice by Tim O'Connor.  The ball would get thrown away, allowing O'Connor to reach, with Mark Donadio then singling through the left side to score Lundy and tie the game.  After a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, Ian Edmiston blistered a single through the left side to score O'Connor and Donadio for the 3-1 lead.

 
Kennedy went back out for the seventh and struck out his tenth batter of the game, giving him 214 in his career to move into second place on Fordham's all-time list behind only Javier Martinez (264 – 2004-07).  Today, he passed Pete Harnisch (213 – 1985-87), Donny Tracey (212 – 1978-81), Ed Alex (207 – 1940-42), and Tom Davis (205 – 2005-08).
 
Kennedy exited after the seventh, where Joseph Serrapica took over to record the final six outs for his fourth save of the season.  Kennedy picked up his sixth win of the year, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
 
At the plate, Edmiston was 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Donadio was 1-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.  Charles Galiano extended his hit streak to nine games with a base hit in the second inning, while being credited with three caught stealing defensively.
 
The same two teams will match up for game two of this series at 1:00 PM on Friday.