Baseball Opens A-10 Series with 7-2 Win Over George Washington

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Bronx, N.Y. - Behind home runs from Matthew Kozuch and Joseph Runco and a solid effort from the pitching duo of Greg Weissert and Reiss Knehr, the Fordham Rams earned a 7-2 series opening win over the George Washington Colonials at Houlihan Park on Friday.
 
With the win, Fordham improved to 24-23 on the year, 10-6 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington fell to 20-26 on the year, 9-7 in the league.
 
Fordham took the lead just four pitches into the bottom of the first inning, as Matthew Kozuch leadoff the game with a solo home run to center field, his second round-tripper of the season.  The Rams then added another run later in the inning, when Ryan McNally singled to left, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Donadio.
 
The Rams added to the lead in the third, as Donadio drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a single through the left side by Justin Bardwell.
 
The Colonials cut the Fordham lead to 3-2 in the top of the sixth on a two-run single by Bobby Campbell, but the Rams answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-2 edge.  Joseph Runco led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run to left center, his first of the year.  Later, Justin Bardwell connected on a two-run double to left center, scoring McNally and Donadio, who both reached on singles.

 
Fordham closed out the scoring in the eighth, as Joseph DeVito singled to right field, stole second, and scored on a double by Runco for a 7-2 lead.
 
That run support was enough for the Rams' pitching duo of Greg Weissert and Reiss Knehr.  Weissert held the Colonials to just one hit over the first four innings, before yielding the two runs in the fifth.  He earned his fourth win of the year, improving to 4-3 on the season, and had four strikeouts.  Knehr kept the Colonials guessing over the final four innings, as he recorded his first career save.  He ended the game with a season-high eight strikeouts and allowed just three hits.
 
At the plate, all nine starters had at least one hit in the game, led by Runco, who was a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, two RBI, and two stolen bases, as he moved past Danny Leach (85 - 2005-09) for third place on Fordham's all-time stolen base list with 87.  Bardwell was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, while McNally was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
 
The same two teams match-up for game two of this series on Saturday, beginning at 2:00 PM.