Newark, N.J. - The Fordham baseball team split a doubleheader with the NJIT Highlanders on Friday at Riverfront Stadium in Newark, N.J. The Rams won the opening game 10-4, while dropping game two, 3-2.
With the split, Fordham is 9-13 on the season, while NJIT moved to 8-13.
Game one began with a bang as Fordham jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. With one out,
Jason Lundy singled up the middle and was followed by a two-run home run to left by
Ryan McNally, his team-leading fourth of the year.
NJIT cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third inning, as Justin Etts and Jesse Uttendorfer led off with back-to-back singles and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Etts then scored on a ground out to second by Evan Pietronico.
Fordham got that run back in the fourth, loading the bases on an error, a double, and a walk with one out.
Joseph Runco then plated
Mark Donadio from third with a sacrifice fly to right, making it a 3-1 ballgame.
The Highlanders answered with a three-run rally to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the frame, as they took advantage of two Fordham errors in the inning.
The Rams then rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth inning, which began with
Ryan Mahoney reaching on an error.
Reiss Knehr came on to pinch run for Mahoney and was sacrificed to second by
Joseph DeVito. Runco followed with a double to left center, scoring Knehr to knot the game at four. After a failed pickoff attempt moved Runco to third, Lundy singled past the third baseman to score Runco and regain the lead. McNally then went deep to left for the second time for his second two-run home run of the game.
Fordham capped the scoring with three runs in the seventh, as Knehr connected on a three-run home run to right, the first of his career, for the 10-4 final.
Anthony DiMeglio Anthony DiMeglio (2-1) got the win in relief, pitching a scoreless inning.
Jimmy Murphy and
Parker Barnell also pitched one inning of scoreless relief. Starter
Ben Greenberg went the first four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks. At the plate, McNally was 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI, while Lundy was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Stampfl went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored with Knehr having the three-run home run and two runs scored.
In game two, NJIT got on the board first, scoring twice in the third inning on a two-run by Stephan Halibej. The Highlanders then made it 3-0 in the fourth on an RBI-single by Etts.
The score remained at 3-0 until the seventh, when Fordham tried to mount a comeback.
Luke Stampfl and Mahoney led off with back-to-back singles with Stampfl scoring on a pinch-hit single by
Justin Bardwell. After a sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, Runco plated Mahoney with a ground out to short, making it a 3-2 ballgame. The comeback effort would come up short, as Lundy grounded out to third to end the game.
For Fordham,
Greg Weissert (0-3) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts. DiMeglio and
Ryan Remo each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. At the plate, DeVito was 2-for-2 , while Stampfl and Mahoney each had a hit an a run scored.
The same two teams will match-up for a doubleheader at Houlihan Park on Saturday with the first game starting at noon.
