Pomona, N.Y. – (May 16, 2023) – The Fordham Rams and Manhattan Jaspers have exchanged pleasantries on the baseball diamond for over 150 years, dating back to 1870, and have never played a game beyond 12 innings. That is until Tuesday, as the team played 13 innings with Manhattan getting the walk-off 13-12 win at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y.
Cian Sahler got things rolling for Fordham in the second inning, as he connected on a solo home run to right field, his first of the season, for a 1-0 lead.
The Rams made it 5-0 in the third inning, rallying for four runs.
Daniel Bucciero and
Tommy McAndrews led off with back-to-back walks with Bucciero scoring on a single to center by
Zach Selinger. After Sahler singled to right to load the bases,
Will Findlay hit into the double play, which plated McAndrews from third.
Sebastian Mexico then launched a two-run home run to right center, his second of the season, for the five-run lead.
Manhattan got on the board in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly and then scored six times in the fourth for a 7-5 lead.
Fordham got a run back in the fifth, but the Jaspers answered with a three-run double by Pete Durocher in the bottom of the inning to go up by a 10-6 count.
The score remained that way until the seventh, when
Tommy McAndrews hit a grand slam home run for Fordham to tie the game at ten. It was McAndrews' seventh home run of the season and the seventh grand slam for the Rams this year.
Tommy McAndrews crushes the game-tying grand slam home run.
Neither squad scored in the eighth or ninth innings, pushing the game into extra innings. In the tenth, McAndrews gave the lead back to the Rams, as he clubbed his second home run of the game to left. However, Fordham could not hold the lead, as the Jaspers loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and scored a run on a fielder's choice.
Then in the 12
th inning, Mexico put Fordham back on top with an RBI-single to score Selinger from second, making it a 12-11 count. Manhattan followed with an RBI-single of their own in the bottom of the inning, knotting the game once again.
The Jaspers then walked the game off in the bottom of the 13
th, as they loaded the bases with two outs and got a single through the right side by Daniel Perez to take the game, 13-12.
For Fordham, McAndrews finished with two home runs, three runs scored and five RBI, while Mexico was 3-for-7 with a home run, two runs scored, and three RBI. Bucciero and Selinger each finished with two hits and two runs scored. Sahler and
Ryan Meyer also had two hits each for the Rams.
On the mound,
Dominic Cunha (2-4) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits over 3.2 innings of relief. Starter
Robbie Stewart pitched two scoreless innings, as did
Ryan Egan and
Ben Kovel. Stewart and Egan each had two strikeouts with Kovel having four.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Thursday, May 18
th, as the Rams play at Saint Louis with game time set for 5:00 PM Eastern.
