Though the team has come close on multiple occasions, the Fordham baseball team had not won its season opener since 2005. That changed on Friday, as the Rams pulled out a 5-2 come-from-behind win over the Furman Paladins at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina, at the First Pitch Invitational.
The Rams' last opening day win came 11 years to the day on February 19
th, 2005 with a 10-4 victory at Delaware State.
"Both starters were very good today and our offense hung in and battled," said head coach
Kevin Leighton after the game. "I'm proud of how we competed and fought as a group and look forward to watching our guys build on tonight. It was a great team win."
The game began as a pitcher's duel between Furman's Will Gaddis and Fordham's
Greg Weissert. Both pitchers were excellent, allowing just one hit each over the first five innings.
Weissert's lone hit allowed was a leadoff double in the fourth to Cameron Whitehead, while Gaddis gave up a single to
Mark Donadio in the fifth.
In the sixth, Weissert's day came to an end after two walks and a sacrifice bunt, bringing
Ben Greenberg into the game from the bullpen. Greenberg then threw a wild pitch to advance the runners to second and third. Another pitch got away from Fordham catcher
Justin Bardwell with Whitehead just beating the throw to Greenberg at home with a headfirst slide. Jordan Simpson followed with an RBI-single to score Brandon Elmy for a 2-0 lead.
The Rams rallied from that deficit with a five-run eighth inning to take a 5-2 lead. The inning began with
Ian Edmiston reaching on an error by the third baseman. After a strikeout,
Jason Lundy was hit by a pitch, while Bardwell drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Furman went to the bullpen, bringing in Rollin Layton, who got
Joseph DeVito to strike out for the second out of the inning.
Ben Greenberg Ryan McNally then delivered for the Rams with a bases clearing double down the left field line for a 3-2 lead. McNally then stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to make it, 4-2.
Joseph Runco followed with a single through the left side and scored on a triple by
Matthew Kozuch for a 5-2 lead.
After allowing the two inherited runners to score in the sixth, Greenberg settled in, allowing just one hit over the final three innings to earn the win in relief. He finished with two hits and two walks allowed with two strikeouts over 3.2 innings of work. Weissert was solid in his opening day start, as he was charged with two runs on one hit and six walks with five strikeouts over 5.1 innings.
At the plate, McNally was 1-for-3 with a double, three RBI, and a stolen base, while Runco was 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base. Kozuch was 1-for-4 with an RBI-triple with Donadio and Edmiston having the final two hits for the Rams.
The Fordham baseball team continues action at the First Pitch Invitational on Saturday with a 4:00 PM game against Presbyterian.
