St. Bonaventure, N.Y. – (May 20, 2021) – Needing wins to keep playoff hopes alive, the Fordham baseball team used every bit of resiliency they had to erase a five-run deficit to eventually defeat the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 11-10, in ten innings at Fred Handler Park on Thursday.
Fordham (22-18, 9-8 A-10) started the game trailing, 3-0, in the first inning as St. Bonaventure's Matt Williams hit a two-run home run to right, while Brendyn Stillman cracked a solo shot in the same direction.
The Rams answered with a four-run second inning, taking advantage of a St. Bonaventure error to start the inning.
Nick Labella hit a comebacker to pitcher Liam Devine, who overthrew the play at first, allowing Labella to go all the way to third.
Zach Selinger followed with an RBI-single to score Labella to put Fordham on the board. After two strikeouts and a walk,
C.J. Vazquez connected on an RBI-single to right center to make it 3-2.
Andy Semo then singled to load the bases with
Jason Coules coming through with a two-run single to left for the 4-3 lead.
The lead did not last long, as Chet Szablewski hit the Bonnies' third home run of the game to knot the game at four in the second.
After a scoreless third, St. Bonaventure went back on top, scoring three times in the fourth and twice in the fifth for a 9-4 lead. The big hits kept coming as Tyler Kelder and Pierce Hendershot both hit solo home runs to account for two of those five runs.
Richard Grund
Fordham's comeback effort started back up in the seventh, scoring four times to make it a 9-8 ballgame. Labella kicked things off with a solo home run right with one out, his third of the season. Selinger and
Richard Grund followed with back-to-back singles, forcing the Bonnies to go to the bullpen.
Will Findlay then hit the first pitch down the right field line for an RBI-double. Grund then scored on a wild pitch with Findlay coming in to score on a sacrifice fly by
Trey Maeker.
The Bonnies got a single run in the bottom of the seventh, but Fordham fought back with two in the eighth to knot the game at ten.
Alvin Melendez hit a single up the middle with one out and moved to second on a balk. An infield single and a walk loaded the bases for the Rams, Findlay came through again with a two-run single through the left side to tie the game.
The game remained tied into extra innings, where in the tenth, with runners at first and second and one out, Grund blistered a double down the right field line to score Labella from second base for an 11-10 lead.
The bottom half of the inning saw Melendez close out the game, retiring the side for his first save of the season and the 14
th in his career, moving him into a tie for fifth all-time at Fordham.
Joseph Quintal (3-1) earned his third win of the year in relief, pitching two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
At the plate, Findlay was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and three RBI, while Labella was also 2-for-5 with a home run and four runs scored. Selinger and Vazquez each had three hits and an RBI in the contest with Semo, Coules, and Grund each having a pair of hits.
The same two teams are back at it on Friday with a noon doubleheader.
