March 21, 2013

Philadelphia, Pa. - For just the third time this season, the Fordham baseball team will be on the road this weekend, as the Rams will open Atlantic 10 Conference play in Philadelphia against the La Salle Explorers, starting a three-game series on Friday at Hank DeVincent Field.

The Rams and Explorers are no stranger to conference series, having played each other as members of both the MAAC and Atlantic 10. Fordham leads the all-time series with La Salle at 29-17-1 with Fordham winning four of the last five times.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday - RHP Joseph Charest (1-2, 4.58 ERA) vs. LHP Ryan Donohue (0-1, 6.84 ERA) | Live Stats
Saturday - RHP Chris Pike (1-2, 6.95 ERA) vs. RHP Shane Hollman (0-3, 8.76 ERA) | Live Stats
Sunday - RHP Joseph Serrapica (2-0, 2.55 ERA) vs. LHP Shawn O'Neill (1-2, 7.02 ERA) | Live Stats

SCOUTING LA SALLE: The Explorers are 4-12 on the season, as the team took two of three last weekend, knocking off Wagner on Friday and splitting with Chicago State on Sunday. Dan Klem highlighted the weekend for the Explorers, going 5-for-10 with five RBI and four runs scored. Shawn O'Neill tossed a complete game one-hitter vs. the Cougars on Sunday, and was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week for his performance.

Klem is 14-for-29 (.483) over his last has last eight games, seven of which he's hit safely. Kevin Baron is second on the club in hitting (.368) and leads the squad in runs (9), hits (21), and on-base percentage (.463). Klem and Baron have formed a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of La Salle's lineup, accounting for 28 of the Explorer's 68 runs scored on the season.

Ryan Donohue (0-1, 6.84 ERA) has started on the bump in three of La Salle's four wins, while Shane Hollman (0-3, 8.76 ERA) has 16 strikeouts in 12.1 innings. O'Neill (1-2, 7.02 ERA) sports a staff-best .190 batting average.

GALIANO NAMED A-10 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK (3/18): Fordham University freshman catcher Charles Galiano (Dix Hills, N.Y./Commack) was named Atlantic 10 Baseball Rookie of the Week, today by the conference office. It is his first career weekly honor, and marks the second time this season that a Fordham freshman has received Rookie of the Week honors. Brett Kennedy did so on March 6th.

Galiano had an incredible week, hitting .588 (10-17) with six runs scored, four triples, and five RBI. He posted a .619 on-base percentage with a 1.118 slugging percentage.

Galiano recorded his first career four-hit game on Wednesday against New York Tech with a 4-for-4 outing. He was then 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two triples on Friday against NJIT in the first game of the Frankie Frisch Invitational, becoming the first Ram to have two triples in the same game since Kevin Brush in 2003 against Temple. He recorded his third multi-hit game of the week on Sunday versus Saint Peter's, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI, and his fourth triple of the week.

For the season, Galiano is hitting .347 with 11 runs scored, three doubles, five triples, and 11 RBI.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Rams will travel to Poughkeepsie, New York, for a mid-week match-up with Marist on Tuesday, beginning at 3:00 PM, before returning to Philadelphia for a three-game series at Saint Joseph's, March 28th-30th.