Currently tied for seventh in the Atlantic 10, the baseball team travels to second place George Washington this weekend. Christian Wiloejo/The Fordham Ram
By Sam Belden
Since the beginning of conference play, Fordham baseball has been very busy. In a three- game series on the road against Richmond, the Rams were overmatched. They endured the sweep, and Richmond outscored them 39-14.
After returning home, however, their fortunes changed. The Rams took two out of three from George Mason, including an 11-2 victory in the first game of the series. With those first two conference series under its belt, the team entered last week with a record of 10-18, 2-4 against A-10 opponents.
The Rams started off with a stray non-conference game against Rutgers. While Fordham scored early with a sacrifice fly from sophomore right fielder Mark Donadio in the first inning, the Scarlet Knights rallied with four runs in the top of the second and never looked back.
Fordham did manage to score three more runs over the course of the game, including one home run from junior catcher Charles Galiano, but its pitching did not hold up. Head coach Kevin Leighton used nine pitchers; only two of whom lasted more than a single inning. Rutgers piled on six more runs en route to the 10-4 victory. Freshman reliever David Wright was saddled with the loss.
After the series against Rutgers, the Rams kicked off a three game series against A-10 opponent Davidson. The first game featured a strong pitching performance from sophomore starter Greg Weissert, who surrendered three runs over six innings.
However, Davidson’s starter, Clark Beeker, was even better, allowing the same number of runs over eight innings. By the middle of the ninth inning, the Wildcats had opened up a four run lead, but a late two-run home run from Galiano, his second in as many games, put some pressure on Davidson. However, Fordham’s luck ran out after the clutch hit, and it fell by a score of 5-3.
The next day, the two teams squared off again. The Rams grabbed an early lead when junior second baseman Joseph Runco scored from third on a wild pitch from Davidson starter Rob Bain. Two innings later, Donadio, who recorded a hit in each of his four at bats during the game, slapped a single to right field, scoring center fielder Jason Lundy.
Meanwhile, junior starting pitcher Brett Kennedy nearly went the distance; the only blemish on his stat line was giving up a solo home run to David Daniels in the sixth inning. Junior Jimmy Murphy recorded the last two outs for Fordham and picked up his first save of the season, securing the 2-1 victory.
On Sunday, the Rams and Wildcats played the deciding game of the series. Once again, Fordham got off to a hot start, scoring three runs on the strength of second inning singles from Donadio and junior shortstop Joseph DeVito. They tacked on another run when Runco scored on a wild pitch for the second time in as many games.
While Fordham’s offense was not as impressive for the rest of the game, it managed to get some baserunners, and two men came home on fielder’s choices, extending the lead to six. Freshman pitcher Ben Greenberg made a couple of mistakes near the end, surrendering two solo home runs to the Wildcats as the game reached its final stage, but he stayed in, recorded the complete game and secured the 6-2 victory. Donadio went 4 for 4 for the second consecutive game.
After posting two wins and two losses in last week’s four game spread, the Rams are now 12-20 on the season and 4-5 against A-10 opponents. They have proven to be far more effective at home than on the road. In the Bronx, they have won 10 and lost seven, but on the road, the team has gone 2-13.
This week, Fordham travels back down to the mid-Atlantic for a three game series against A-10 opponent George Washington before visiting Fairfield for a single contest. After that run of games, the Rams will have just about a month to gain momentum for the A-10 Championship in the nation’s capital.
The top seven teams will qualify, and the Rams are currently in a tie for seventh with the La Salle Explorers. Fordham claimed the final seed in last year’s tournament and finished the extended weekend in Saint Louis at 1-2, falling to the hometown team to end their 2014 season.
