MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team opened its weekend series with Fordham on Friday with a resounding 13-3 victory at Smithson Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (12-8 overall, 7-2 Atlantic 10) took the lead in the bottom of the first as Jake Artz led off the game with a walk and scored on a two-out double by Nate Thomas.

• Fordham (16-11 overall, 3-2 Atlantic 10) went ahead in the third on a two-out, two-run single by Zach Selinger, but Liam Bendo answered with a two-out, two-run single of his own to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead after three.

• After the Rams conceded a run on a double play in the fourth, SJU got some breathing room in the fifth on a single by Brett Callahan a no-doubt two-run home run from Langston Livingston.

• An Alvin Melendez sacrifice fly cut it to 7-3 midway through the sixth, but the Hawks broke the game open in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs on just one hit thanks to four walks and two hit batsmen.

• Brendan Hueth hit an RBI single in the eighth before a fielder's choice by Nate Thomas ectended the lead to 13-3 and triggering the ten-run game-end scenario.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Ian McCole went the distance for the Hawks, allowing three runs – two of them earned – on four hits in eight innings.  He struck out four on the day to improve to 2-2.  Brooks Ey took the loss to fall to 0-3; he allowed seven runs on nine hits in five innings.

• Hueth and Luke Zimmerman recorded three-hit days for the Hawks, while Artz scored three times and Thomas drove in three.

UP NEXT
The Hawks and Rams will play a pair of seven-inning games on Saturday.  First pitch in the opener is set for noon at Smithson Field.