Fairfield, Conn. – (April 16, 2019) – Fairfield's Giacomo Brancato hit a solo home run in the fifth and knocked in the go-ahead run in the eighth, as the Stags came back to defeat the Fordham Rams, 6-5, at Alumni Diamond in Fairfield, Connecticut.
With the loss, Fordham fell to 22-16 on the year, while Fairfield improved to 20-14.
Fordham struck first in the second inning, as
Matt Tarabek led off with a double down the left field line and was sacrificed to third by
C.J. Vazquez. After
Jason Coules reached on an infield single,
Andy Semo ripped a double off a diving third baseman's glove to score Tarabek from third.
The Rams made it 2-0 in the second inning, courtesy of an RBI-single by
Justin Bardwell, scoring
Jake Guercio from second. Guercio reached base on a single and stole second.
Fordham extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning. Guercio led off with a single to left center and moved to second on a balk.
Jake MacKenzie then singled to left, moving Guercio to third. After a stolen base by MacKenzie,
Nick Labella plated Guercio with a ground out for a 3-0 lead. Tarabek then drove home MacKenzie with a single to right for a 4-0 edge.
The Rams would take that lead into the sixth, but the Stags rallied for five runs to take a 5-4 lead, highlighted by a solo home run by Giacomo Brancato and an RBI-single by Jack Gethings.
Fordham tied the game at five in the top of the eighth on an RBI-single by
C.J. Vazquez, but the Stags came right back in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-5 lead, loading the bases with one out and getting an RBI-ground out by Brancato.
Jake Guercio
The Rams had a chance to tie in the ninth, as
Billy Godrick was hit by a pitch to start the inning and beat a throw to second on a sacrifice by Guercio. After a wild pitch moved the runners up a base, MacKenzie lined out to center. Godrick tagged up, but the throw was in time where the catcher tagged out Godrick on the second try at the plate. Bardwell then flew out to center to end the game.
For Fordham,
Anthony Zimmerman (3-2) took the loss allowing one unearned run in his one inning of work.
Alvin Melendez started the game, pitching three hitless innings with a strikeout. At the plate, Tarabek was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI, while Guercio was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Bardwell, Vazquez, and Semo each had a hit and an RBI.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Thursday, April 18
th, when the Rams host the Saint Louis Billikens at Houlihan Park. Due to potential weather, the two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday, starting at noon, while the Friday game will remain at 11:00 AM.
