May 13, 2011

Fordham Baseball Game Notes | UMass Audio

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham baseball team continues their run to the Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend at the University of Massachusetts for a vital three-game series, as Fordham is now one of six teams that are separated by just one game for four playoff spots. Fordham and UMass have already met once this season in non-league play, where the Rams got a walk-off single by Chris Walker to defeat the Minutemen, 6-5, at Houlihan Park.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday - Fordham - RHP Brian Pendergast (2-6) vs. UMass - RHP - Glen Misho (5-3) |
Saturday - Fordham - RHP Chris Pike (5-1) vs. UMass LHP Charlie Benson (2-3) |
Sunday - Fordham - RHP Max Krakowiak (4-5) vs. UMass - RHP Ben Hart (3-2) |

SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS: The Minutemen are 15-26 this season, 6-12 in the Atlantic 10.

The Minutemen are hitting .280 on the season, while giving up a 5.81 ERA. The hitting has been led by Matt Gedman, who leads the Atlantic 10 with a .405 batting average, to go with 11 doubles, four home runs, and 29 RBI. Peter Copa is also having a strong season for the Minutemen, hitting .350 with 38 runs scored, 10 home runs, 14 stolen bases, and 36 RBI.

On the hill, the Minutemen will throw the trio of RHP Glen Misho, LHP Charlie Benson, and RHP Ben Hart against Fordham this weekend. Misho, who got the earlier start against Fordham, will go on Friday. He is 5-3 with a 5.45 ERA in ten starts. Benson is 2-3 on the year with a 3.78 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 50.0 innings pitched. Hart will be the Sunday starter. He has a 3-2 mark with a 4.95 ERA in 40.0 innings pitched.

WE'RE GOIN' STREAKIN': Nick Martinez is hitting .349 (15-43) over his last 12 games, posting 13 runs scored, four RBI and four steals... Ryan David is batting .304 in his last 12 games (14-46) with six runs scored and seven RBI... On the hill, Chris Pike has three saves and a 5-1 record in 13 appearances to go with a 2.22 ERA, 56 strikeouts, and .230 opponent batting average... Rich Anastasi is 5-0 in 19 appearances, posting a 2.00 ERA and 32 strikeouts... Tim Swatek has 25 strikeouts, six saves, and a 2.12 ERA in 29.2 innings of work, and is currently on a 12-game hitting streak, in which he is batting .306 in that stretch... Jonathan Reich gave up his first earned run of the season on April 30th, in 24.1 innings of relief, giving him a 0.37 ERA, while posting a 3-0 record.

SHUTTING THE DOOR: One of the biggest reasons for the Rams success this season has been the development of the Fordham bullpen into one of the best in the Atlantic 10.

In 2010, the Rams' bullpen sat with a 8-13 record and eight saves at this point in the season with a 5.36 ERA and a .280 opponent batting average.

This season has been a much different story with the bullpen having a 15-2 record and 13 saves with a 3.02 ERA and opponent batting average of .237, a difference of close to three runs less per game and around 50 points less in batting average.

In addition, the Rams had just one relief pitcher, Jordan Grangard, end the season with an ERA of 2.50 of less with at least eight relief appearances. This season, Fordham has an amazing six pitchers, Jonathan Reich, Nick Martinez, Chris Pike, Rich Anastasi, Joseph Charest and Tim Swatek, that fit those standards.

THE HITS KEEP ON COMING: One of the keys to the Rams' hitting has been the consistent play of a certain players during extended hit streaks. The Rams lead the Atlantic 10 with five players having double-digit hit streaks this season.

Chris Walker had the longest hit streak at a career-high 15 games, while Ryan David had a career-high 13-game stretch this season. The 15-game streak by Walker was the longest since Eric Reese had a 15-game hit streak in 2008.

Both Ryan Maghini and Nick Martinez each had an 11-game hit streak with Tim Swatek currently enjoying a 12-game hitting streak, entering this weekend's play. His 12-game hit streak is the longest by an A-10 freshman this season, and the longest by a Fordham freshman since Jeremy Bourgeois had a 13-game hit streak in 2002.

Last year, Fordham had only four players have a 10-game streak, while the previous season.

MOVING UP THE RANKS: With 29 wins for the Rams in 2011, head coach Nick Restaino has moved into fifth on the Fordham baseball coaching wins list. He now has 194, passing Dan Rinaldo for fifth all-time.

On top of Restaino, Fordham seniors Chris Walker and Max Krakowiak are working their way into the Fordham all-time leaders.

Walker is currently eighth all-time with 41 career doubles, while tied for 10th with Eric Reese (2005-08) in runs batted in with 123.

Krakowiak ranks fifth in games started (41), 11th in innings pitched (229.1), and tied for 14th in strikeouts (161).

UPCOMING GAMES: Following this weekend, the Rams return to local action with a road game at Seton Hall on May 17th, and then conclude the regular season May 19th-21st at home against Xavier.