HOUSTON – HBU erupted for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, then had to hold off Fordham for a 7-6 victory in the non-conference baseball series finale Sunday afternoon at Husky Field. With the win, Huskies head coach
Jared Moon became the all-time winningest baseball coach at the school with his 307th career-victory.
Senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, drove in two runs and scored for the Huskies (2-1). Senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger homered and drove in a pair, while junior centerfielder
Spencer Halloran walked twice and scored a pair of runs. Junior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon doubled and he hit safely in all three games.
Junior
Cody Marshall (1-1) picked up the win in relief for HBU, allowing two runs on five hits in 2.1 innings, while sophomore
JT Newton earned his first save, giving up one run on three hits and struck out four in 1.2 innings. Sophomore starter
Daniel Endsley allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out seven in 5.0 innings.
Luke Stampfl went 4-for-5 with a run, capping a 9-for-13 weekend at the plate, for Fordham (1-2). Justin Bardwell went 3-for-5 with two doubles and scored twice, while Brian Goulard went 2-for-4 with a home run and drove in three runs. Alvin Melendez had two hits, including a double, and Jason Lundy also recorded a pair of hits.
Brian Weissert (0-1) took the loss for the Rams, giving up three runs on one hit with three walks in 1.1 innings and Anthony Zimmerman allowed three runs on two hits and a walk in one-third of an inning. Starter Anthony DiMeglio had held the Huskies to one run on two hits with four strikeouts through 5.0 innings.
Fordham jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a first-inning sacrifice fly by Mark Donadio scored Melendez, who led off the game with a double, then a second-inning two-run home run to right by Goulard.
HBU got on the board with Zillweger's solo blast to left in the fourth, then his sacrifice fly in the sixth scored Halloran, who had walked and gone to third on a Brintz double, to cut Fordham's lead to 3-2.
In the seventh,
Carey Jones drew a pinch-hit walk, then pinch-runner
Zane Otten stole second, before senior catcher
Blake Thomas also walked. Junior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald delivered an RBI single to left to tie the game. Halloran was intentionally walked to load the bases, then Brintz came through with a two-run double down the leftfield line to put the Huskies ahead, 5-3. Halloran scored on a passed ball and Brintz came home on senior leftfielder
Joe Van Marter's RBI infield single to stake HBU to a four-run lead.
The Rams mounted a comeback in the eighth as Stampfl and Bardwell had back-to-back one-out singles. After Matthew Kozuch walked to load the bases, Ryan Mahoney smacked a two-run single to and Goulard followed with an RBI single to cut the Huskies' lead to 7-6. Newton then struck out Matt Tarabeck and Melendez to end the threat.
Newton got Lundy to ground out to open the ninth, then struck out Donadio. Stampfl blooped a single to right center to put the tying run aboard, but Bardwell struck out looking to end the game.
The Huskies return to action when they travel across town to face Houston Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Schroeder Park.
