MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team opened its weekend series with a 2-1 win over Fordham at Smithson Field on Friday morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• First pitch was moved up to 10:00 a.m. due to impending rain, and it was Fordham (16-26 overall, 4-9 Atlantic 10) whose offense played the role of the early bird, opening the scoring on a single by Tommy McAndrews.  The Rams would then load the bases with one out, but Luke Zimmerman fielded a sharp ground ball at first, tagged the bag, and then fired home to Justin Igoe, who laid a perfect tag on the runner for an inning-ending double play.

• Will McCausland navigated some trouble on the mound but kept the Rams off the board for the remainder of his outing, allowing the Hawks to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.  Brett Callahan led off the inning with a triple, and after a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out, Justin Igoe lofted a fly ball to deep left center that Fordham's Ryan Thiesse caught in spectacular fashion before running into the fence; Callahan trotted home with the tying run, but that was all the Hawks would get. in the frame.

• Saint Joseph's (17-19-1 overall, 8-5 Atlantic 10) would go in front in the seventh.  Zimmerman led off with a walk, and two batters later, Luca Trigiani singled to put two on for Callahan, who ripped a single to right to score Zimmerman and give the Hawks their first lead of the day.

• Matt McShane and Cole Stetzar combined to make the lead stand.  McShane retired seven consecutive batters before the Rams loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth; Stetzar came on to fan Cian Sahler to strand the runners and finish off the game.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• McShane earned the win, allowing two hits in two and two-thirds innings of shutout relief; Stetzar retired the only batter he faced for his fourth save of the season.

• Neither McCausland nor Fordham starter Declan Lavelle figured into the decision; McCausland allowed a run on five hits in six innings, while Lavelle matched a career high with five innings, allowing zero runs on two hits.

• Callahan was 2-for-4 and was involved in both Hawk runs; Trigiani turned in a multi-hit day as well, going 2-for-3.

UP NEXT
The teams will attempt to complete the series with a doubleheader on Saturday.  First pitch in the opener is slated for noon.