Baseball Slips At Fordham, 8-2
BOX SCORE
BRONX, N.Y. – Held to three hits total Tuesday at Houlihan Park, the University at Albany baseball team fell, 8-2, to the hosting Fordham University Rams in a midweek non-conference contest. The Great Danes (4-15) stayed within one run into the fifth, but Fordham (11-13) scored five unanswered runs in the final frames, including a pair of home runs in the eighth.
Staff day on the mound, UAlbany used eight arms in the game. Starter Stephen Carey (0-1) took the loss, tossing the first two innings, allowing three runs on two hits, while striking out two.
Kirk Haynes Jr. (1-0) earned the win for the Rams, allowing two runs (none earned), three hits, four walks, and struck out one in seven innings. Relievers Cody Johnson and Makay Redd held UAlbany without a hit in the final two frames.
Fordham took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Tim O'Connor lined a leadoff triple and tagged home on Joseph Runco's sacrifice fly to left. However, Carey stuck out the next two batters to end the side.
The Great Danes knotted it up in the second when senior Josh Nethaway reached on a dropped pop-up and moved to second base on the play. Tying the score, 1-1, junior Craig Lepre ripped an RBI double down the right field line, marking his sixth two-bagger of the season.
The Rams answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning, using a leadoff walk, RBI triple by Jason Lundy, and a RBI groundout by Mark Donadio to take a 3-1 advantage.
In the fourth, UAlbany cut the deficit to one, 3-2, as Charlie Peltz drew a two-out walk, advanced to third on a throwing error, and touched home on a double steal with Cory Kingston.
However, that would be the Danes' final run of the evening. Fordham scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings, playing small ball. With sophomore Ryan Stinar on the mound, Donadio and pinch hitter Charlie Galiano belted a duo of home runs sandwiched around a dropped fly ball in the eighth for the final 8-2 score.
Offensively for UAlbany, senior D.J. Hoagboon's triple (1-for-4), Lepre's double (1-for-3), and Brian Bullard's single (1-for-4) represented the Danes' hits in the game. Fordham totaled five hits, led by O'Connor's 2-for-5 day.
Up next, UAlbany hosts America East Conference foe UMass Lowell for a three-game series this weekend at Varsity Field. Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 1:00 p.m.
