Dayton, Ohio – (May 17, 2019) – Fordham's
Jake Baker drove home
Nick Labella in the top of the ninth inning, while
Kyle Martin closed out the game with two scoreless innings, as the Rams rallied past the Dayton Flyers, 4-3, at Woerner Field in Dayton, Ohio.
With the win, Fordham moved to 33-22 on the year, 14-9 in the Atlantic 10, while Dayton fell to 29-23-1 overall, 16-7 in the league. The win officially locked Fordham into a playoff spot at next week's Atlantic 10 Championship, hosted at Fordham's Houlihan Park. (
Tickets can be purchased here)
Taking a page from yesterday, Fordham opened the scoring in the first inning, taking advantage of a Dayton error.
C.J. Vazquez led off the game with a single to right, and two out later, came all the way around to score on a failed pickoff attempt at first.
Dayton tied the game at one in the third when Michael Cleary hit a solo home run to right, his fourth of the year.
The Rams answered with a long ball of their own in the fourth, as
Alvin Melendez jacked his fifth home run of the season to left for a 2-1 lead.
The Flyers then grabbed a 3-2 lead in the fifth, scoring a pair of unearned runs on an error and a passed ball.
Kyle Martin earned his fifth relief win on Friday.
Dayton looked to add to the lead in the seventh, loading the bases with one out. However, reliever
Cory Wall induced a 3-2-3 double play to end the frame and give the Rams the spark they needed.
Fordham went on to score once in the eighth and ninth innings to re-take the lead at 4-3. In the eighth, Vazquez led off with a single and moved to second on a walk to
Jason Coules. After a fielder's choice, Melendez drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with one out.
Matt Tarabek then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Coules and tie the game at three.
In the ninth,
Nick Labella roped a double to right field and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by
Billy Godrick.
Jake Baker then delivered the go-ahead RBI-single to right, giving Fordham the 4-3 lead.
Fordham reliever
Kyle Martin (5-2) was able to hold off Dayton in the bottom of the frame, stranding the tying run at second base. He recorded the win, allowing one hit with two strikeouts over two innings of work. Starter
John Stankiewicz went the first 6.1 innings, allowing one earned runs on five hits with strikeouts.
With the eight team strikeouts today, Fordham broke the team's single season strikeout mark for the fifth consecutive year at 543, breaking last year's mark of 536. Individually,
Jake MacKenzie also hit a milestone with his 40
th stolen base of the season, becoming the first player to reach that mark since Shawn Harris in 1994.
At the plate, Vazquez was 2-for-5 with a run scored, while Melendez was 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks, and a stolen base.
The two teams will conclude their series with a noon game on Saturday.
