Davidson, N.C. - All the Fordham baseball team needed was a little spark in their doubleheader against the Davidson Wildcats on Saturday. After scoring just one run over the first 14 innings, the Rams got one, as junior outfielder
Mark Donadio made an acrobatic, diving catch to end the fifth inning, which ignited the Rams for eight runs over the final four innings of the day to get a doubleheader split at Wilson Field, winning game two, 9-3, while dropping game one, 5-0.
With the split, Fordham is now 21-20 on the season, 7-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Davidson is 21-18 overall, 8-6 in the league.
In game one, Davidson's Clark Beeker scattered nine hits and struck out five, as he pitched a 5-0 complete game shutout of the Rams.
Davidson opened the scoring right away in the first, getting a one-out triple by Alec Acosta and a sacrifice fly by Sam Foy for a 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats then got all the insurance they needed in the fifth, when Lee Miller connected on a grand slam home run to right, his third round tripper of the year, for a 5-0 lead.
Beeker did the rest, as he kept the Fordham offense off the scoreboard. The Rams had nine hits in the game, and got a runner to third base five times in the first six innings, but Fordham was unable to plate a run.
At the plate,
Jason Lundy was 3-for-4, while
Ian Edmiston was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
Joseph Runco also had two hits in the game, as he reached 200 career games played, joining Jordan Lert (201), Brian Keeney (200), Rich Goulian (207), Danny Leach (211), and
Brian Kownacki (211), as the only Rams to reach that plateau.
Jason Lundy had five hits in Saturday's twinbill.
On the hill,
Kirk Haynes, Jr. (3-3) took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings of work. Reliever
Anthony Zimmerman finished out the game with his best performance of the year, tossing 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, giving up just two hits.
In game two, Fordham's
Mark Donadio was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a highlight reel play, while Fordham's pitching trio of
Greg Weissert,
Jimmy Murphy, and
Reiss Knehr kept Davidson in check for a 9-3 victory.
With Davidson leading 2-0, Fordham finally broke through for a run in the top of the fourth. Donadio went all the way to third base on a throwing error by catcher Jake Sidwell, and scored on a single by Lundy.
The Rams then got their spark in the fifth inning, when Donadio went airborne to making a diving catch into the right field corner to end the frame. Watch the play at the bottom of the story, courtesy of Davidson Athletics.
From there, Fordham's offense came alive in the sixth, scoring three times to take a 4-2 lead.
Matthew Kozuch led off with a single to left center and moved to third on a double by
Luke Stampfl.
Justin Bardwell then dumped a two-run single down the right field line for a 3-2 lead. Edmiston later posted an RBI-double to left for a 4-2 lead.
Davidson got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but Fordham notched a run in the eighth and four in the ninth to take a 9-3 lead. In the eighth, the Rams got an RBI-double by Lundy, scoring Donadio after he reached on a double. The ninth inning saw Fordham take advantage of Davidson's fourth error of the game, getting a two-run double by
Ryan McNally, an RBI-double from
Luke Stampfl, and an RBI-single by Donadio to close out the win.
Fordham's
Greg Weissert (3-3) picked up his third win of the season, allowing three runs on two hits and five walks over 5.2 innings of work. The Rams' bullpen did the rest, as
Jimmy Murphy threw 2.1 innings of two-hit relief with
Reiss Knehr pitching a scoreless ninth. In all, the Fordham bullpen threw 6.2 innings of scoreless relief in the doubleheader.
At the plate, Donadio was 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored, two stolen bases, and an RBI, while Lundy was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Stampfl went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, and an RBI with McNally and Bardwell each having two RBI.
The rubber game of this Atlantic 10 series will take place Sunday at 1:00 PM.
