April 30, 2013

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham baseball team is back at home on Tuesday, when the Rams host crosstown opponent, Manhattan College, in the second meeting of the season between the two clubs. First pitch is slated for 4:30 PM at Houlihan Park.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
Fordham - RHP J.C. Porter (1-3) vs. Manhattan - LHP Casey Meyers (0-0) | | Watch | WFUV Audio

SCOUTING MANHATTAN: The Jaspers are 19-23 on the season with an 8-10 mark in the MAAC. The team is batting .244 as a club, while having a 5.22 ERA.

At the plate, Ramon Ortega has been the Jaspers' most consistent player, batting .318 with 26 runs scored, nine doubles four home runs and 31 RBI. He has also been solid behing the dish, throwing out 16 of 44 potential base stealers (36%), and committing only four errors on the year. Nick Camastro has also been solid, hitting .287 with 10 doubles, 10 RBI, and 14 stolen bases.

On the hill, LHP Casey Meyers will get the start for Manhattan. He has appeared in seven games, starting two, with a 14.36 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched. He has 10 strikeouts and is allowing a .377 batting average.

LAST TIME OUT: Butler's Kevin Lenkman threw eight innings of five-hit ball with six strikeouts, as the Bulldogs completed a sweep of the Fordham Rams with a 4-1 victory at Bulldog Park in Indianapolis.

Butler (22-18, 10-5) opened the scoring with three runs in the third, as the Bulldogs received an RBI-groundout by Michael Fries and got a pair of two-out RBI-singles from Jimmy Risi and Radley Haddad.

Fordham (15-30, 2-13) then found the scoreboard in the fourth, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Joseph Runco and Charles Galiano led off with back-to-back singles, and after a pair of outs, Brendan Maghini lined a double down the left field line to score Runco from second.

Butler added one more run in the seventh to complete the scoring, as Butler starting pitcher Kevin Lenkman limited Fordham to just five hits and one walk over eight innings of work with six strikeouts. Gunner Johnson pitched a perfect ninth inning to record his third save of the season.

Fordham starter Jimmy Murphy (0-3) took the loss, allowing three earned runs on six hits over 6.2 innings of work with five strikeouts. Brett Kennedy threw the final 1.1 innings, giving up just one hit with a strikeout.

At the plate, Maghini was 1-for-3 with an RBI-double, while Runco was 1-for-4 with a run scored. The remaining Fordham hits came from Matthew Cianci, Galiano, and Tim O'Connor.

WE'RE GOING STREAKIN': Freshman Joseph Runco is hitting .415 over his last 10 games (17-41) with eight runs scored, four RBI, and five stolen bases... Senior Dan Sorine is batting .353 over his last eight games (6-17) with two doubles and four RBI... Junior Brendan Maghini is hitting .318 over his last six games (7-22), which included his first career four-hit game... Senior Mike Mauri has 12 hits, five RBI, and three stolen bases in his last 10 contests... Junior J.C. Porter has thrown well in his last two starts, posting a 1.50 ERA in 12.0 innings with 10 strikeouts... Freshman Brett Kennedy has a 2.45 ERA in his last four appearances, holding opponents to a .167 batting average.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Rams will travel to Amherst, Massachusetts this weekend for a three-game A-10 series, starting on Friday at 3:00 PM.