By Matthew Michaels
The Rams impressed over this past weekend with both their hitting and pitching. Andrea Garcia/The Fordham Ram
Fordham baseball had a busy week as it looked to continue its winning streak, get to a .500 record and start conference play. The Rams played well and finished the week with a 14-14 record on the season and a 2-1 mark against Atlantic 10 opponents. “We pitched great and swung the bats well which led to a successful week,” said head coach Kevin Leighton.
On Wednesday, Fordham was on the road to face the University of Albany. The Rams fell behind after Albany scored a first inning run, but Fordham responded with a pair of scores in the second and did not stop there. Fordham was up 3-1 until it padded its lead with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh inning. Albany attempted a comeback but fell short as Fordham took the game 9-3.
The Rams showed promising signs on offense as they totaled 16 hits. Junior Pat Gardner led the lineup with a career-high four hit game while senior Ian Edmiston had three hits and scored two runs. Seniors Joseph DeVito and Joseph Runco knocked in three runs each as they tallied multi-hit games. Junior Luke Stampfl earned his first victory of the season.
On Friday night, Fordham started its slate of games against A-10 opponents versus the University of Richmond. The big story of the game was the pitching performance of junior Kirk Haynes Jr., who allowed four hits and no runs over eight innings of work. In the process, Haynes tied the school record for consecutive scoreless innings at 30, a mark set in 1927 and matched in 1938.
Fordham only collected two hits in the game, but they were enough. Junior Mark Donadio led off the fifth inning with a single followed up by a stolen base. An error in the Richmond outfield allowed Donadio to score the only run of the game. Senior Jimmy Murphy pitched the ninth and closed out the 1-0 game.
Haynes credits the streak to his mindset. “My recent success has come from preparing every day to win.” he said.
He noted that his teammates are also responsible for his success, saying, “They are playing great defense behind me and scoring the runs we need to win.”
“It feels great knowing that I am helping the team,” he added.
Coach Leighton does not see a major difference in Haynes’ approach but said, “He’s been locating all of his pitches and staying ahead of hitters.” Leighton added that Haynes has a deceptively fast fastball and has done a good job staying down in the zone.
On Saturday, Fordham and Richmond played a doubleheader. The Spiders held a 3-2 lead into the seventh, but the Fordham bats could not be contained. Freshman Justin Bardwell tied the game with a single, one of his five hits in the game. Several batters later, junior Matthew Kozuch scorched a double to the left-center gap that cleared the bases and gave him three RBIs. Fordham scored an insurance run in the seventh inning to put the Richmond deficit at four.
Junior Greg Weissert earned his first victory of the season by striking out ten Spiders over seven frames. Senior Joseph Serrapica pitched two innings of shutdown ball in relief as the Rams took the middle game of the series.
Bardwell said that going five for five is “a great feeling” and added that the offense “did a great job contributing and producing runs.” The team had 15 hits in the first game Saturday.
Fordham could not complete the sweep or extend its five game winning streak as the Rams lost a close one Saturday afternoon. Richmond put two on the scoreboard in the first and the two teams traded runs in the second and third. Down 3-1, Fordham pushed three across the plate but gave up the lead in the sixth.
Tied in the bottom of the sixth, Donadio put the Rams back ahead with a two-run single. However, the Rams’ bullpen could not hold the lead as Richmond scored three in the eighth inning. After all the back and forth action, the Spiders defeated the Rams 7-6.
“The league is an absolute grind and every team is tough,” Leighton said in discussing the A-10. “We want to do everything possible to put ourselves in a strong position leading up to the final weekends.”
Fordham will put its 14-14 record to the test on Wednesday against Rutgers. Over the weekend, the Rams play another series against A-10 opponent La Salle in Philadelphia.
