MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, but in the end, the Hawks ultimately fell to Fordham, 3-2, in 10 innings at Smithson Field on Sunday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Fordham (18-12 overall, 5-3 Atlantic 10) struck right away as Alvin Melendez hit a double to score Jason Coules in the top of the first.

• The visitors doubled the lead in the fifth as Casey Brown scored on a passed ball.

• Saint Joseph's (13-10 overall, 8-4 Atlantic 10) finally broke through in the ninth.  After a leadoff walk by Andrew Cossetti, back-to-back one-out singles by Liam Bendo and Langston Livingston brought him home and put the tying run on third in the person of pinch-runner Conlan Wall.

• Wall would score on a sacrifice fly by Brett Callahan before a single by Luke Zimmerman put the winning run 90 feet away with two down, but the Rams were able to escape and send the game to extra frames.

• In the top of the tenth, which started with a runner on second as per this season's extra-innings rules, a wild pitch and an RBI groundout gave the Rams the lead.  The Hawks were able to get the tying run to third, but no closer, and the visitors salvaged a series split.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Joseph Quintal was credited with the win, while Noah Weber took the loss.

• Both starting pitchers were strong, as Ryan Devine allowed one earned run on five hits through five innings for the Hawks, while Gabe Karslo pitched into the ninth inning for the Rams.  Luke Smith tossed three and two-thirds innings of shutout relief for SJU.

• Brendan Hueth led the Hawks with a pair of hits on the day, while Coules scored twice and was 2-for-4 for Fordham.

UP NEXT
The Hawks host Lafayette on Wednesday at Smithson Field.