Merion Station, Pa. – (April 27, 2018) – Fordham's
Reiss Knehr allowed just one run on three hits over seven innings, while
Matt Tarabek and
Billy Godrick both homered, as the Rams defeated the Saint Joseph's Hawks, 11-1, at Smithson Field on Friday afternoon.
With the win, Fordham improved to 25-14-1 on the year, 8-5 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Joseph's fell to 16-21 overall, 4-10 in the league.
Fordham got off to a good start, scoring a couple of runs in the first inning. With one out,
Jake MacKenzie reached on an error and stole second base. After a strikeout,
Justin Bardwell dumped a double into left center to score MacKenzie.
Brian Goulard then added an RBI-single to right for a 2-0 lead.
The Rams added to the lead in the third, as
Matt Tarabek led off the inning with a solo home run to left, his third of the season. Fordham then got a double from
Alvin Melendez, followed by a bunt single by Goulard and a sacrifice fly from
C.J. Vazquez to make it, 4-0.
The Hawks cut into the Fordham lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Rams answered back with three runs in the sixth to go up by a 7-1 count. The three-run rally was highlighted by a triple by
Colton Snelling, an RBI-single by
Jake Baker, and a two-run home run by
Billy Godrick, his fifth of the season.
Matt Tarabek
The Rams tacked on four more runs in the seventh inning, extending the lead to 11-1. The rally had three RBI-singles from Tarabek, Bardwell, and Snelling, while MacKenzie had a sacrifice fly.
That offense was plenty for Fordham starter
Reiss Knehr, who improved to 4-2 on the season, allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts over seven innings of work.
John Stankiewicz and Melendez finished out the game pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
At the plate, Tarabek was 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI, while Bardwell was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Goulard finished 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI with Godrick going 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Snelling and Baker also had two hits and two runs scored each.
The same two teams match up for game two of this series on Saturday at 2:00 PM.