Baseball Seniors Get Walkoff Win on Senior Day Against UMass

Bronx, N.Y. – For the Fordham baseball team, it was all hands on deck on Sunday to keep the team's playoff hopes alive.  The Rams' senior class would not be denied a Senior Day win after falling behind late, as senior Matthew Kozuch ripped a walkoff single down the left field line to score Justin Bardwell in the bottom of the tenth to give Fordham a 5-4 extra-inning win at Houlihan Park.
 
With the win, Fordham has won six of its last seven to improve to 24-23 on the year, 9-11 in the Atlantic 10, while UMass fell to 13-30 this season, 7-14 in the league.
 
The game started with a bang, as UMass' Jon Avallone led off the game with a solo home run to right, his fifth of the season, for a 1-0 lead.
 
Fordham answered back with a bang in the second, scoring three times for a 3-1 lead.  Senior Luke Stampfl led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and then scored on a one-out single by fellow senior Jason Lundy.  The senior barrage continued with the next batter, when Ryan Mahoney crushed a two-run home run to right for his third of the season.
 
UMass came back to tie the game at three, scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.  In the fifth, the Minutemen scored a run on a wild pitch, while in the sixth, it was a Ryan Lever two-out single that scored Eddy Hart from second.
 
The Minutemen then grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth off Fordham reliever Alvin Melendez.  Lever drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second.  After a flyout, Nolan Kessinger singled to left center to score Lever for the lead.

 
In the bottom of the ninth, UMass starter Mike Geannelis took on the top of the Rams' order, having retired 19 straight batters, dating back to the Mahoney home run.  Matthew Kozuch ended that streak with a leadoff double to right center, bringing Billy Godrick to the plate.  Godrick laid down a sac bunt that third baseman Eddy Grant made an errant throw on, allowing Kozuch to score from second and tie the game.
 
The game remained tied forcing extra innings.  After UMass went scoreless in the top of the tenth, Geannelis came back out to the mound to face the 5-6-7 hitters for Fordham.  Justin Bardwell led off with a single up the middle, and was sacrificed to second by Lundy.  Mahoney was intentionally walked to bring Jake Baker to the plate.  Baker connected on a shallow single to right, but the runners were only able to move up a base, making it bases loaded with one out.  Pinch-hitter Brian Goulard would foul out to third on a diving catch by Hart for the second out of the inning.  That left it up to the senior Kozuch, who lined an 0-2 pitch down the left field line, past Hart, for the walkoff hit to score Bardwell for the 5-4 win.
 
For Fordham, Kozuch was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI, while Mahoney was 1-for-3 with a two-run home run.  Lundy was 1-for-3 with an RBI with Stampfl and Bardwell both going 1-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Melendez (3-0) earned the win in relief, allowing one run on two hits in two innings of work.  Reiss Knehr received a no-decision, as he allowed three runs on seven hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts.  Senior Shane McDonald was also clutch out of the bullpen, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
 
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, May 16^th, when the Rams host their final home game of the season, when the Iona Gaels come to Houlihan Park for a 4:00 PM contest.