On a day where weather played havoc with the start of today's Atlantic 10 opener, fans who stuck around were treated to an old school pitcher's duel at Houlihan Park between the Fordham Rams and the Richmond Spiders. In the end, it was Fordham's duo of
Kirk Haynes, Jr. and
Jimmy Murphy who came out on top of a 1-0 decision to give the Rams their first conference opening win since 2009.
With the win, Fordham improved to 13-13 on the season, 1-0 in the Atlantic 10, while Richmond fell to 14-12 overall, 1-3 in the conference.
The only run of the ball game came in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Mark Donadio led off the inning with a single to center field, the Rams' first hit of the game off Richmond starter Keenan Bartlett, and stole second.
Ian Edmiston then hit a fly ball to center, which Richmond centerfielder D.J. Lee came in on and then sprinted back for. Lee set up to catch the ball, but the ball went off his glove and into right center, allowing Donadio to score from second.
That run held up as Fordham starter
Kirk Haynes, Jr. (3-0) was masterful over the first eight innings of the game, scattering four hits and four walks to the Spiders without allowing a run. No baserunner got to third base against Haynes, as by night's end he tied the school record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched at 30 innings. He joined Bob Cooney in 1927 and Hank Borowy in 1938 as the only pitchers to reach that mark.
Jimmy Murphy Jimmy Murphy then closed out the shutout for the Rams, earning his first save of the season, allowing one hit with one strikeout in the ninth.
The performance of Haynes and Murphy overshadowed an excellent outing by Bartlett of Richmond, who fell to 0-3 on the year. He allowed just one hit and one walk over the first seven innings with eight strikeouts, while Caleb Ward threw a scoreless inning of relief.
Besides Donadio, the Rams had just one other hit, which came from
Jason Lundy in the eighth inning.
Joseph Runco saw his 13-game hit streak come to an end, but he did reach base twice on a pair of walks.
The same two teams will matchup for a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 1:00 PM.
