Jake Lumely's infield single that scored Anthony Massicci from third base in the bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the difference maker on Friday, as the Canisius Golden Griffins upended the Fordham Rams, 5-4, at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, N.C.
Â
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-3 on the year, while Canisius moved to 1-4.
Â
After two scoreless innings of action, Fordham rallied for three runs in the third inning, all with two outs.Â
Joseph Runco got the rally started with a two-out single to right and advanced to second on a walk to
Mark Donadio.Â
Ryan McNally then plated Runco with a single to left.Â
Matthew Kozuch followed with a two-run double to center, scoring Donadio and McNally for a 3-0 lead.
Â
The Rams added to that lead in the sixth, taking advantage of a Canisius error. Kozuch reached second on an error by the first baseman to lead off the inning and moved to third on a fly out.Â
Justin Bardwell then blasted an RBI-double to center to score Kozuch for the 4-0 edge.
Â
Canisius got back into the ballgame in the bottom of the frame, scoring three times off reliever
Kirk Haynes, Jr. With one out, the Golden Griffins connected on three straight singles to load the bases. Adam Tricario drew a walk to force in a run, while Alex O'Donnell plated a run on an infield single. John Conti then hit a sacrifice fly to center to pull Canisius within one, 4-3.
Matthew KozuchÂ
The Golden Griffins then grabbed a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Canisius scored runs on a pair of RBI-singles from Anthony Massicci and Jake Lumley.
Â
The Rams got two runners on in the ninth with two outs, but Canisius reliever Iannick Remillard struck out the side for the save and the 5-4 win.
Â
For Fordham,
Ryan Remo (0-1) took the loss in relief, allowing one unearned run on five hits over two innings of work. Starter
Greg Weissert was impressive over the first five innings, giving up just three hits and a walk, while striking out seven batters.Â
Kirk Haynes, Jr. also pitched allowing four runs on four hits with two strikeouts in just over an inning of work.
Â
At the plate, Kozuch was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while McNally and Bardwell were both 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Â
The same two teams match-up for a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at noon.