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Bronx, N.Y. – (May 1, 2018) – After setting the single season team record for strikeouts for the fourth consecutive year on Sunday, the Fordham pitching staff once again took center stage on Tuesday night at Houlihan Park. Six Fordham pitchers struck out 21 Hofstra batters, tying the school record, over 11 innings, while
Justin Bardwell had the walk-off single in the bottom of the 11
th, as the Rams came away with a 1-0 win over the Pride.
With the win, Fordham has won five in a row, improving its record to 28-14-1, while Hofstra had a seven-game win streak snapped, falling to 21-16.
The scoring opportunities were few for both teams, as the pitching staffs were in rare form with 33 total strikeouts in the game.
In the fifth, Hofstra had a one-out triple by Austin Gauthier, but Fordham reliever
Joseph Quintal got a strikeout and a fly out to end the threat.
In the sixth, Fordham's
Jake MacKenzie had a single and two stolen bases, but ended up stranded at third base.
The eighth inning saw the Pride with runners at the corners and two outs, but
Kyle Martin struck out Rob Weissheier to end that potential rally.
The game went on to extra innings at 0-0 with Fordham having a glorious chance to get the win in the tenth.
Justin Bardwell and
Brian Goulard led off with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with no outs. Hofstra's Brad Camarda got the next two Fordham batters on strikeouts, before walking
Justin Machado to load the bases. However,
Jake Baker struck out looking to push the game into the 11
th.
Matt Mikulski had five of the 21 strikeouts by Fordham pitching.
In the 11
th, Hofstra got a runner to third with two outs as Parker Quinn singled to right center, stole second, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Fordham reliever
Alvin Melendez then got Vinny Costello to strike out looking to end the inning for the 21
st strikeout by Fordham pitching.
The bottom of the frame saw Melendez lead off with a ground-rule double to right center. Following a fly out by MacKenzie and a walk to
Billy Godrick, Melendez and Godrick pulled off a double steal, putting runners at second and third with one out. With the Hofstra outfield drawn in, Bardwell connected on a long single to the right center gap to score Melendez for the walk-off win.
For Fordham, Melendez (2-1) earned the win in relief, allowing two hits with four strikeouts in two innings of work.
Matt Mikulski went the first four innings, giving up four hits with five strikeouts, while Quintal,
Mike Cowell, and
John Stankiewicz each went one inning with two, three, and two strikeouts, respectively. Martin added five strikeouts in his two innings of relief. The 21 total strikeouts tied the school record, set on March 31, 1909, when Chris Mahoney and Dick Egan totaled 21 strikeouts in a no-hitter against Bowdoin College.
At the plate, Bardwell was 2-for-5 with the game-winning RBI and extended his career-high hit streak to 11 games. Melendez was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base with MacKenzie finishing 2-for-5 with two stolen bases.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Friday, May 4
th, when the Rams open a three-game Atlantic 10 series against the Dayton Flyers at Houlihan Park, beginning at 6:00 PM.
