Bronx, N.Y. – (March 20, 2021) – It was a long day at the ballpark for the Fordham baseball team on Saturday afternoon. Scheduled to play 16 innings over the course of a doubleheader, the Rams ended up playing 20, taking game one from the St. John's Red Storm, 7-6, in 13 innings, while falling in the second contest, 4-3, in seven innings.
With the split, Fordham moved to 8-3 on the year, while St. John's is now 9-4.
In game one, Fordham's
C.J. Vazquez drove in a career-high four runs, including the game-winning run in the bottom of the 13
th inning of game one to give the Rams a 7-6 victory.
Fordham opened the scoring in the third inning when
Trey Maeker connected on a solo home run to right field, the first of his career.
St. John's answered with a three-run fourth inning for a 3-1 lead, before the Rams tie the game at three in the bottom of the frame. With runners at first and second, Maeker singled through the right side to score
Casey Brown with
Jack Harnisch taking third.
Colton Snelling then plated Harnisch with a ground out to second.
The Red Storm re-took the lead at 5-3 in the sixth before Fordham rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 6-5 lead. The Rams loaded the bases with two outs when
C.J. Vazquez lined a bases clearing double down the left field line, scoring
Jake Guercio,
Joe Bladel, and
Ryan Thiesse.
St. John's though would tie the game at six in the top of the seventh on a bases loaded hit by pitch, forcing the scheduled seven-inning affair into extra innings.
The teams put up zero after zero until the 13
th inning when Fordham broke the deadlock. Pinch-hitter
Richard Grund singled to right to start the frame, while
Chris Genaro drew a walk. After a sacrifice moved the runner's up, Vazquez hit a ground ball to a drawn in infield at second, where the throw back home couldn't be handled, allowing Grund to score the game-winning marker.
C.J. Vazquez
For Fordham,
Joseph Quintal (1-0) was brilliant in relief to earn the win, throwing six shutout innings, allowing four hits with five strikeouts. Starter
Garrett Crowley went the first five innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with four strikeouts, while
Gabe Karslo pitched two innings of relief. At the plate, Maeker was 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Vazquez had a double and a career-high four RBI.
In game two, Ryan Hogan's RBI-single in the top of the sixth inning proved to be the difference, as the Red Storm won 4-3 in seven innings.
The game did not start well for Fordham, as starter
Cory Wall left the game with an injury in the first inning, while St. John's scored a run to take the early lead.
Fordham replied with two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI-single by
Nick Labella, as well as a bases loaded hit by pitch to Maeker.
After St. John's scored in the second to tie the game at two, each team scored in the fifth to leave it at three all. The Red Storm then got the game-winning run in the sixth on an RBI-single to left by Ryan Hogan.
For Fordham,
Cameron Knox (0-1) took the loss allowing one run over two innings of relief with three strikeouts.
Alex Henderson pitch 4.1 innings in relief of Wall, giving up two runs. At the plate,
Will Findlay was 2-for-4 with a double, while Labella was 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI, two walks, ad a stolen base.
The same two teams meet for the series finale at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Sunday a 1:00 PM.
