Bronx, N.Y. – (April 21, 2018) – Fordham senior
Ben Greenberg tossed his third career complete game, while posting a career-high eight strikeouts, as the Rams topped the George Washington Colonials, 7-2, in baseball action on Saturday at Houlihan Park.
With the win, Fordham improved to 23-13-1 on the season, 7-4 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington moved to 21-17 overall, 7-4 in the league.
Much like Friday, the game began as a pitcher's duel between Fordham's
Ben Greenberg and George Washington's Elliott Raimo, who both came into today's game with ERAs of 1.69 and 1.68, respectively. Each team got one hit over the first four innings, as both pitchers were in a groove early.
The Colonials had an opportunity to break the deadlock in the fifth with runners at first and second and one out. Matt Cosentino singled to left with Nate Fassnacht trying to score from second. However, Fordham's
Jake Baker threw a perfect one-hop strike to
Justin Bardwell for the out at the plate.
Fordham then broke through with three runs in the sixth inning to break the deadlock. Baker started the rally with a one-out double to right center. After a pop out,
Jake MacKenzie lined a two-run home run over the right field wall for his team-leading seventh of the season for a 2-0 lead.
Matt Tarabek followed with a single to right center to keep the inning alive, bringing Bardwell to the plate. With Tarabek moving on the pitch, Bardwell hit a ground ball to short, which the shortstop double clutched and threw over Cosentino's head for an error. Cosentino then picked up the ball and threw the ball way over the third baseman's head allowing Tarabek to score for a 3-0 edge.
Matt Tarabek had three hits on Saturday.
The Rams then tacked on four insurance runs in the eighth for a 7-0 lead. Fordham got runs on an RBI-bunt single by Tarabek, an RBI-single by Bardwell, and a two-run double by
C.J. Vazquez.
The Colonials would score twice in the ninth to break up Greenberg's shutout effort, but that did not diminish the work of the Rams' senior hurler, as he threw 101 pitches in the complete game win. It was the third complete game of Greenberg's career, as he allowed two runs on nine hits with a career-high eight strikeouts.
At the plate, Tarabek was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI, and a stolen base, while Bardwell was 2-for-4 with a run scored, a stolen base, and an RBI. MacKenzie finished 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored, and a stolen base with Vazquez going 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
The same two teams will match up for the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 12:00 PM.
