St. Bonaventure, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure's Taishi Terashima had the game-tying RBI-single and then scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete a late comeback win to defeat the Fordham Rams, 7-6, at Fred Handler Park.
With the loss, Fordham is now eliminated from playoff contention, falling to 26-24 on the year, 10-12 in the Atlantic 10, while St. Bonaventure improved to 26-19 on the year, 15-7 in the league.
St. Bonaventure opened the scoring with a run in the first on a pair of singles and an RBI-groundout by Dave Hollins.
Fordham answered with a three-run second to grab a 3-1 lead.
Luke Stampfl started the rally with a single up the middle and was sacrificed to second by
Justin Bardwell. After a walk and a fielder's choice put runners at corners,
Alvin Melendez stole second to put two runners in scoring position for
Brian Goulard. Goulard then connected on a two-run double to right, scoring both Stampfl and Melendez.
Jake Baker followed with a single to score Goulard for a 3-1 lead.
The Rams extended the lead to 5-1 in the top of seventh, scoring twice in the frame. Baker was hit by a pitch to start the inning, which ended starter Brandon Schlimm's day. After a groundout and a wild pitch put Baker at third, Donadio hit a chopper to first, where no one covered the bag, allowing Baker to score. Stampfl continued the rally with a single to left, moving Donadio to third. Bardwell then hit a chopper to short, which he beat out for a single, scoring Donadio for a 5-1 edge.
Brian Goulard ropes a two-run double in the second.
The Bonnies then rallied for four runs in bottom of the eighth to tie the game at five. With one out, St. Bonaventure registered back-to-back singles, which ended Fordham starter
Reiss Knehr's afternoon, bringing in
Kyle Martin from the bullpen. Martin got the next batter to foul out, but then gave up an RBI-single to Hollins and a three-run home run to T.J. Baker to tie the game at five.
Fordham though would not be deterred going back on top in the ninth.
Billy Godrick started the rally with a one-out single to left and moved to second on a passed ball. After walks to Donadio and Stampfl, Bardwell lined a single to left, scoring Godrick to re-take the lead at 6-5.
St. Bonaventure's late rally though would not be denied, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth, on an RBI-single and a passed ball to win the game, 7-6.
For Fordham, Bardwell was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Stampfl and Donadio each had a pair of hits and a run scored. Goulard was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI with Baker going 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Shane McDonald (2-2) took the loss, allowing one earned run on two hits in the ninth. Knehr received a no-decision allowing three runs on four hits with six strikeouts over 7.1 innings of work.
The two teams will conclude the series on Saturday with a noon start.
