BRONX, N.Y. – A five-run first inning set the tone and the rest of the afternoon followed suit as the Saint Joseph's baseball team batted around in four different innings on the way to a 20-0 blowout of Fordham at Houlihan Park on Friday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (14-10 overall, 7-0 Atlantic 10) came out of the gates hot, hanging a five-spot on the board in each of the first two innings.  A single by Alex Kelsey and walks to Blake Primrose and Richard Beggy loaded the bases with one out; Joey Pagano and Jason Janesko followed with consecutive singles to stake the Hawks to a 2-0 lead.  Tim Dickinson was then hit by a pitch to force in another run before Alex Venezia reached on an error and Carson Applegate beat out an infield single to push the lead to 5-0.
 
• Primrose started the second with a double before Beggy and Pagano singled to load the bases; consecutive walks to Dickinson and Venezia forced in a pair to extend the margin to 7-0.  Applegate then followed with a two-run ground-rule double before an RBI groundout by Joey Gale made it a 10-0 game.
 
• Fordham (11-13 overall, 4-3 Atlantic 10) loaded the bases with nobody out in the second, but Duke McCarron induced a foulout and a line drive double play to escape unharmed.
 
• Primrose led off the third as well, going deep for an 11-0 lead.  Pagano and Janesko then hit back-to-back singles before Dickinson scored them with a triple into the right field corner.
 
• The Hawks added four more in the fifth.  Walks to Janesko and Venezia and a single from Dickinson loaded the bases for Applegate, who lofted a sacrifice fly to center field.  Gale followed with an RBI double before Kelsey hit a two-run single to push the lead to 17-0.
 
• SJU tacked on three more in the ninth.  Venezia singled before Eric Cross walked and Ryan Price singled to load the bases once again; Kelsey was then hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to force in a run.  Primrose then lofted a sacrifice fly before Ben Peterson reached on an error that brought home the game's final run.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Matt Speicher tossed two and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out three, to earn the win.  Beau Elson allowed five runs on four hits and two walks in one inning to take the loss.
 
• McCarron got the start and allowed four hits while fanning four in four and a third innings; Drew DeSanto and Logan Franks also threw a shutout inning apiece.
 
• Kelsey and Pagano led the way with three hits apiece, while Dickinson and Applegate each drove in four runs and four different Hawks scored three runs each.  Kelsey and Primrose each reached base five times.
 
• The Hawks set season highs in runs scored, hits, and batters hit by a pitch on Friday.
 
• Each Hawk in the starting lineup reached base safely in the first four innings of the game, and all finished the game with at least one hit.
 
• Saint Joseph's scored in the first inning for the seventh time in seven conference games on Friday.
 
UP NEXT
The series continues on Saturday afternoon.