Bronx, N.Y. – (April 18, 2019) – With weather threatening the rest of the weekend, the Fordham Rams got an early start to their conference series against the Saint Louis Billikens on Thursday, splitting a doubleheader at Houlihan Park.
With the split, Fordham is now 23-17, 8-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis is 16-21 on the year, 5-6 in the league.
In game one, Saint Louis' Connor Lehmann posted 12 strikeouts over 8.1 innings of work to lead the Billikens to a 7-4 win.
After two scoreless innings, Saint Louis got the big inning in the third, scoring six times for a 6-0 lead, highlighted by a two-run double by Kevin Jordan.
Fordham broke through in the sixth on an RBI-ground out by
Justin Bardwell, scoring
Jake MacKenzie from third.
Kyle Martin recorded his 18th career save on Thursday,
one shy of the school record.
The two teams exchanged runs in the seventh, making it a 7-2 game, before Fordham got within four, 7-3, in the eighth on a solo home run by MacKenzie, his second of the season.
The Rams then tried to put a rally together in the ninth, getting the tying run to the plate. Fordham plated a run on three straight singles, the last by
Andy Semo to score
Matt Tarabek, making it, 7-4. However, Ryan Lefner would come out of the Saint Louis bullpen and record the final two outs for his second save of the season.
Matt Mikulski (4-5) took the loss, allowing six runs on five hits and six walks over three innings of work.
Marc Bisogno kept Fordham in the contest with five innings of three-hit relief, giving up just one run with four strikeouts, while
Mike Cowell pitched a scoreless ninth inning. At the dish, Tarabek was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Semo was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
In game two, it was a pitcher's duel between Fordham's
Anthony DiMeglio and Saint Louis' Jackson Wark, with DiMeglio coming out on top with a 3-1 win for Fordham.
The Billikens opened with a 1-0 lead in the first, as Saint Louis loaded the bases with one out and got a sacrifice fly by Cole Dubet.
Fordham answered with two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth for a 3-1 lead. In the fourth,
C.J. Vazquez drew a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice by
Nick Labella. Tarabek then reached on an infield single, putting runners at the corners. After a pop up, Semo reached on an infield single to third, scoring Vazquez, but the throw went errant at first, allowing Tarabek to also score.
The fifth inning saw
Jake Baker reach base on an infield single, steal second, and score on a double by MacKenzie for a 3-1 edge.
From there, it was all Fordham pitching, as DiMeglio (3-3) went seven strong innings, allowing one run on five hits with seven strikeouts.
Anthony Zimmerman pitched a clean eighth inning, while
Kyle Martin closed out the game with a perfect ninth for his seventh save of the season. At the plate, Baker was 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base to lead the offense, while MacKenzie and Semo each had a hit and an RBI.
The two teams will conclude their series on Friday with an 11:00 AM contest.
