Baseball Splits Final Two Games with Saint Louis

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 2, 2022) – It was a roller coaster day for the Fordham Rams in their doubleheader against the Saint Louis Billikens at Houlihan Park on Saturday.  In game one, Fordham rallied from a 3-1 deficit to earn a 4-3 win behind a career-best performance from starting pitcher Brooks Ey, while game two saw another late-inning rally fall short, dropping a 7-4 decision to the Billikens.
 
Game one opened with Saint Louis (14-11, 2-1 A-10) taking a 2-0 lead in the third inning on RBI-singles by Matt Happ and Kyle Fitzgerald.
 
Fordham (6-18, 1-2 A-10) cut the lead in half in the sixth, as Nico Boza drew a walk, was sacrificed to second, and scored on a pair of Saint Louis errors.
 
The Billikens regained their two-run lead in the top of the eighth, as Fitzgerald hit a solo home run to left, his fourth of the season.
 
The Rams then mounted a rally in the bottom of the inning to grab a 4-3 lead.  Cian Sahler began the frame with a leadoff walk, bringing pinch-hitter Jack Harnisch to the plate.  Harnisch then connected on a two-run home run to right to tie the game at three, his second home run of the season.  C.J. Vazquez was then hit by a pitch and was pinch-run for by Chris Genaro.  After a single and a sacrifice moved Genaro to third, he would score on passed ball to give the Rams the edge.
 
Ben Kovel then came on to close out the game for Fordham, getting three straight ground outs to earn his second save of the season.  Brooks Ey (1-4) was superb, earning his first career win, as he pitched a career-long eight innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with a career-high nine strikeouts.  At the plate, Zach Selinger was 2-for-4, while Harnisch had a home run and two RBI.

 
In game two, Saint Louis built up a seven-run lead before holding on late to earn a 7-4 win over the Rams.
 
The Billikens scored in the opening frame on a sacrifice fly and made it 3-0 in the third inning on a two-run single by Fitzgerald.  After an RBI-groundout made it 4-0 in the fourth, Tyler Fogarty hit a two-run home run, while Happ had a sacrifice fly for another run to make it, 7-0.
 
Fordham scratched a run across in the sixth on a wild pitch and tried to mount a furious ninth-inning rally.  Trailing 7-1, the Rams loaded the bases on walks to Selinger and Jason Coules and a single by Harnisch.  Selinger would score on a wild pitch, while Harnisch scored on an RBI-single by Sahler.  A sacrifice fly by T.J. Wachter scored Coules making it a 7-4 game with the tying run on deck.  However, Cameron Pferrer got the final two outs to close out the win for his fifth save of the season.
 
Cory Wall (0-1) returned to the mound for the first time in over a year, pitching the first two innings, allowing one run with a strikeout.  Robbie Stewart and Connor Haywood each pitched two innings of relief, allowing three runs apiece, while Trey Maeker (1 IP) and Kovel (2 IP) finished out the game.  At the plate, Sebastian Mexico was 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored, while Harnisch, Coules, and Sahler were each 1-for-3.
 
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, April 5^th, as they head to Siena for a 3:00 PM contest.