Philadelphia, Pa. – (April 14, 2018) – Behind two outstanding pitching performances from
Ben Greenberg and
Anthony DiMeglio, the Fordham baseball team swept a doubleheader from the La Salle Explorers, 4-3 and 12-8, at Hank DeVincent Field in Philadelphia.
With the sweep, Fordham improves to 21-11-1 overall, 6-3 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle fell to 10-23, 2-7 in the league.
Fordham opened the game with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Billy Godrick led off with a double with
Jake MacKenzie drawing a walk. After a double steal, Godrick scored on a sacrifice fly by
Matt Tarabek, while MacKenzie scored on a wild pitch.
The Rams then busted out the long ball to extend the lead to 4-0 by the fourth. MacKenzie struck in the third with a solo home run to left, his team-leading sixth of the season, while
C.J. Vazquez connected on his first career home run to left in the fourth inning.
Fordham starter
Ben Greenberg cruised through the first five innings, but hit a touch of trouble in the sixth, as the Explorers cut the Fordham lead in half to 4-2 on an RBI-double by Tommy Toal and an RBI-single from Dylan Evans.
Ben Greenberg
La Salle made it 4-3 in the eighth, getting the go-ahead run on base with two outs. Fordham reliever
Kyle Martin got the job done however, getting Austin Constantini to pop out to first to end the inning.
Martin then closed out the game with a scoreless ninth to record his fifth save of the season. Greenberg improved to 5-1 on the season, allowing three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts. At the plate, Vazquez was 2-for-3 with a home run, while MacKenzie went 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored, and a stolen base.
In game two, Fordham exploded for a seven-run first inning, which began with a leadoff home run by Godrick, the second time he has led off the game with a home run this season. The Rams then loaded the bases and forced in two runs on a walk to
Brian Goulard and a
Colton Snelling hit by pitch.
Reiss Knehr then unloaded the bases with a grand slam home run to right center, his second round-tripper of the season.
Knehr picked up an RBI-bunt in the third for an 8-0 lead before La Salle scored twice on a solo home run to right center and a sac fly in the bottom half of the third, making it 8-2.
Fordham again had an answer in the fourth, scoring three times for an 11-2 edge. Vazquez and Goulard each had RBI-singles, while Knehr picked up his sixth RBI of the game on a bases loaded walk.
Anthony DiMeglio
La Salle worked their way back into the game with four runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to make it an 11-7 game. Fordham regained the momentum with a run in the ninth, when
Nico Doria and Godrick connected on back-to-back doubles to put the Rams on top, 12-7. A solo home run by La Salle accounted for the 12-8 final.
For Fordham,
Anthony DiMeglio improved to 5-0 on the season, as he struck out a career-high 10 batters over 6.2 innings of work, allowing three earned runs. At the plate, Knehr was 2-for-4 with a home run and a career-high six RBI, while Goulard and Godrick each had two hits and two RBI.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, April 17
th, when the Rams host Fairfield at 3:00 PM at Houlihan Park. This is a change from the original schedule.
