Philadelphia, Pa. – Saint Joseph's Deon Stafford, Jr. hit three home runs, while John Brue also homered as the Hawks outlasted the Fordham Rams, 7-6, at Smithson Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 26-24 on the year, 12-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Joseph's improved to 26-19 overall, 12-7 in the league.
Fordham got on the board early in the first inning.
Matthew Kozuch led off with an infield single, which was followed by a two-run home run by
Ryan McNally, his team leading tenth of the season. He is the first Ram to reach double-digit home runs since Bopbby DiNardo hit 15 in 2009.
Saint Joseph's answered with a long ball of its own in the bottom of the first, as Deon Stafford, Jr. connected on a solo home run to left, his 15
th of the year, cutting the lead to 2-1.
The Hawks then grabbed a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs on an RBI-single by Cal Jadacki and a sacrifice fly from Brian Lau.
The Rams grabbed the lead back in the top of the fifth with two-out rally, scoring three times to take a 5-3 lead. Kozuch started things with a two-out single to right, while
Joseph Runco was hit by a pitch. McNally then drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for
Mark Donadio. Donadio was able to work another walk from Hawks' pitcher Lucas Rollins, forcing Kozuch in and tying the game at three.
Luke Stampfl then took the next pitch to left for a single, scoring Runco and McNally for a 5-3 edge.
Saint Joseph's came right back to tie the game at five in the bottom of the frame, as Stafford hit his second home run of the game, this time a two-run shot to center.
Matthew Kozuch had two hits and two runs scored on Friday.
The Hawks then regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Stafford and John Brue hit back-to-back solo home runs for a 7-5 lead.
The Rams tried to rally in the ninth, as
Ian Edmiston was hit by a pitch and
Jason Lundy walked to start the inning. After a passed ball and two strikeouts, Edmiston scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 7-6. Runco however hit a high chopper to second base for the final out of the game.
For Fordham,
Reiss Knehr (2-2) took the loss, allowing the two solo home runs in the seventh inning.
Greg Weissert went the first six innings, allowing five runs on six hits with seven strikeouts.
Anthony Zimmerman closed out the game with a scoreless eighth inning.
At the plate, McNally was 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI, while Kozuch was 2-for-5 with two runs scored to lead the Rams.
The same two teams match up for game two of the series on Saturday at noon.
