Bronx, N.Y. – (March 6, 2021) – After not playing for almost a year, the Fordham baseball team was back on the field at Houlihan Park for its season opener against the NJIT Highlanders, picking up a 5-3 victory.
The Rams got out of the gates quickly with two runs in the first and one in the second for a 3-0 lead. After a leadoff walk to
C.J. Vazquez and a single by
Zach Selinger in the first,
Jason Coules laid down a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away, allowing Vazquez to score from second.
Casey Brown then plated Selinger with a sacrifice fly.
Then in the second,
Will Findlay connected on a leadoff double for his first career hit and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Vazquez.
Jack Popolizio
NJIT answered with two runs in the fourth on RBI-singles by Nick Hussey and Dan Helfgott, cutting the Fordham lead to 3-2.
After pulling back ahead 4-2 on an RBI-ground out by Coules in the fifth, NJIT threatened to get back into the game in the sixth, scoring once and loading the bases with two outs. However,
Jack Popolizio came out of the bullpen to get a pop out and end the threat.
Fordham gave Popolizio a little more breathing room with a run in the sixth to make it a 5-3 game. He took that lead and ran with it, closing out the game with just one hit allowed over the final 3.1 innings for his first career save. He also added three strikeouts in the game.
Matt Mikulski (1-0) was credited with the win, as he struck out eight batters, over four innings of work, allowing two runs.
Alex Henderson pitched the remaining 1.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
At the plate, Vazquez had a hit and two runs scored, while Findlay and Brown each had a double and a runs scored.
The same two teams will match-up for a doubleheader on Sunday, beginning at noon.
Gallery: (3-6-2021) Baseball vs. NJIT
