Bronx, N.Y. – It's no rest for the weary as the Fordham baseball team will have a quick turnaround for their next contest on Tuesday, as the Rams travel to Siena for an afternoon tilt in Loudonville, N.Y.
Fordham has won six of its last eight contests after a split with Saint Louis on Sunday, putting the team's record at 14-13 overall, 4-4 in the Atlantic 10. Siena enters the game with an 11-14-1.
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
RHP
Mike Cowell (0-2, 5.48) vs. TBA //
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SERIES HISTORY: Fordham and Siena have met 17 times previously with the Saints holding a 10-7 edge in the series. Siena has won five straight in the series, including match-ups in each of the last four season. Fordham's last win against Siena came in 1984 on the back end of a doubleheader.
LAST TIME OUT: Following a flight cancelation, which forced unique travel plans upon the Fordham baseball team, the Rams managed to split their doubleheader at Saint Louis on Sunday at the Billiken Sports Center. The Rams dropped game one by a 10-0 score, while rebounding with a 7-1 win in game two.
In game one, the game was scoreless through three before the Billikens got on the board with two runs in the fourth. With runners at first and second, Devin Mahoney put down a sacrifice bunt, but an errant throw to first allowed Mahoney to reach first and allow a run to score. Trent Leimkuehler then singled to left to plate a second run.
Saint Louis made it 3-0 in the sixth inning, when James Morisano connected on a solo home run to left, his sixth of the season. The Billikens then blew the game open with a seven-run eighth inning to secure a 10-0 win.
For Fordham,
Reiss Knehr (2-3) took the loss, allowing two earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work. At the plate,
Mark Donadio was 2-for-4 with a double, while four other Rams had one hit each.
Game two saw Fordham jump out to the initial lead in the top of the third inning.
Ryan Mahoney drew a walk to start the frame and was sacrificed to second by
Jason Lundy. After a walk and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with two outs,
Justin Bardwell delivered a two-run double to left center, scoring Mahoney and
Matthew Kozuch.
Matt Tarabek
After Saint Louis cut the Fordham lead to 2-1 in the fifth, the Rams took advantage of three Billiken errors to score four runs in the sixth and take a 6-1 lead.
Jake Baker reached on an error to lead off the inning and stole second. After a walk to Bardwell, Donadio laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the first baseman throw went wide, loading the bases with no outs.
Brian Goulard then hit a ball to short, which also wasn't fielded cleanly, allowing Baker to score.
Matt Tarabek was then hit by a pitch to force in Bardwell. The scoring then ended with back-to-back RBI-singles by Knehr and Mahoney for a four-run edge.
Fordham added one more tally in the top of the eighth inning, scoring a run on a double play ball for the 7-1 final.
For Fordham,
Jimmy Murphy improved to 3-4 on the season, as he continued his stellar season. He allowed one run on eight hits over seven innings of work with five strikeouts.
Alvin Melendez closed out the game with two scoreless innings of relief. At the plate, Bardwell was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI, while Mahoney was 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
DEFENDING THE "HOU": The Rams are out to a 10-2 start in 12 home games this season, continuing a winning trend at Fordham's Houlihan Park. Fordham has posted a winning home record in each of the last seven seasons, and since 2012, when Coach Leighton took over, Fordham is 86-54 at home, good for a .614 winning percentage. The 10-2 mark is also Fordham's best start at home since 1994. The 1994 squad finished with an 18-4 home record.
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams return home to Houlihan Park for the team's next three games, as Fordham begins a three-game Atlantic 10 series against Saint Joseph's, April 13
th-15
th. Game times are set for 2:00 PM, 11:30 AM, and 12:00 PM respectively each day.
