Baseball Travels to Rutgers for Lone Mid-Week Match-Up

Piscataway, N.J. - In its lone mid-week contest, the Fordham baseball team travels across the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey for a showdown with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 3:30 PM on Wednesday at Bainton Field.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
 
Fordham (14-14) – RHP Luke Stampfl (1-0, 5.14) vs. Rutgers (11-16) - RHP Serafino Brito (2-2, 5.61) // Twitter Feed - @FordhamBaseball | Live Stats | Live Audio (Rutgers Radio)
 
SERIES HISTORY:  The Rams and Scarlet Knights' series history dates back over 100 years.  Since 1900, the two teams have met 60 times with Rutgers holding a 30-27-3 series edge.  The squads met consistently up to 1991 before a 14-year hiatus.  The longtime series restarted in 2005 with Rutgers posting a 6-1-1 record against Fordham since then.  The only Rams win lately was a 15-14 shootout at Houlihan Park in 2013.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Fordham baseball team earned its first Atlantic 10 series win of the season on Saturday afternoon, getting a doubleheader split with the Richmond Spiders at Houlihan Park.  The split puts Fordham's record at 14-14 on the season, 2-1 in the Atlantic 10 , while Richmond moved to 15-13 on the year, 2-4 in the league.
 
In game one, Fordham's Greg Weissert struck out a season-high 10 batters over seven innings, while Justin Bardwell recorded his first five-hit game as the Rams topped the Spiders, 7-3.
 
Fordham got off to a good start, scoring once in the first inning, as Mark Donadio was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run.   After Richmond snagged a 2-1 lead in the third, Fordham tied the game at two in the fourth on an RBI-triple by Joseph Runco, scoring Matthew Kozuch, who reached on a single.
 
The Spiders regained a 3-2 lead in the fifth, but Fordham rallied for four runs in the seventh to take a 6-3 advantage.  Jason Lundy began the inning with a single to center, followed by a walk to Ryan McNally.  Justin Bardwell then ripped an RBI-single to the left side for his fourth hit of the game, scoring Lundy from second.  After a walk loaded the bases, Kozuch came up with a bases-clearing double to left center, making it a 6-3 ball game.
 
The Rams then added an insurance run in the eighth, as Runco doubled to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lundy.
 
The four-run cushion was enough for the Fordham pitching tandem of Greg Weissert and Joseph Serrapica.  Weissert improved to 1-3 on the season, as he went seven innings, allowing three runs with a season-high 10 strikeouts.  Serrapica then closed the door for his first save of the season, pitching two hitless innings of relief with four strikeouts.

At the plate, Bardwell was a perfect 5-for-5 with four singles, a double, and an RBI, while Runco was 3-for-5 with an RBI and was a home run shy of the cycle.  Lundy also had three hits for the Rams, while Kozuch was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

 
In game two, the Spiders put together a three-run rally in the eighth inning to take the nightcap, 7-6.
 
With Richmond leading 3-1, the Rams took their first lead of the game in fourth, scoring three times for a 4-3 lead.  Fordham got an RBI-double from Luke Stampfl and an RBI-ground out from Donadio to tie the game at three.  Ian Edmiston then drew a walk and kept running on ball four, getting into a rundown, which allowed Stampfl to score before Edmiston was tagged out to end the inning
 
The Spiders knotted the game at four in the top of the sixth, but Fordham regained a 6-4 edge in the bottom of the frame.  With the bases loaded and one out, Donadio delivered a two-run single to left center, scoring McNally and Bardwell for the two-run lead.
 
The lead unfortunately would not hold up, as the Spiders scored three times in the top of the eighth to grab a 7-6 lead on a two-run triple by D.J. Lee and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Beckwith.   Daniel Brumbaugh then came on to pitch two scoreless innings of relief to earn his third save of the season and give the Spiders the 7-6 win.
 
Fordham reliever Jimmy Murphy (1-2) took the loss, allowing one run on three hits over 1.2 innings of work.  Starter Ben Greenberg went the first six innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits, with Anthony DiMeglio giving up a pair of runs in his 1.1 innings of work.
 
At the plate, Donadio was 1-for-4 with four RBI, while McNally and Bardwell each had two hits and two runs scored.  Stampfl was also 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
 
WHO'S NEXT:  Fordham continue Atlantic 10 play this weekend, as the Rams head to Philadelphia for a three-game series at La Salle, April 8-10.