Baseball Heads West For Series at Long Beach State

Long Beach, Calif. - After starting the year in Texas, the Fordham baseball team heads further West in week two of the season, as the Rams are in California this weekend for a three-game series against Long Beach State.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
 
Friday: RHP Mike Cowell (0-0, 2.25) vs. RHP Darren McCaughan (0-1, 9.00) // Live Stats | Live Audio
Saturday: RHP Reiss Knehr (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP John Sheaks (0-1, 5.06) // Live Stats | Live Audio
Sunday: TBA vs. TBA // Live Stats | Live Audio
 
SERIES HISTORY:  These will be the first games between Fordham and Long Beach State.
 
LAST TIME OUT: It was a wild finish to the Fordham-HBU series on Sunday afternoon at Husky Stadium.  The seesaw affair ended up with the home squad pulling out a 7-6 win over the Fordham Rams.
 
The game started out well for Fordham, scoring once in the first and twice in the second for a 3-0 lead.  In the first inning, Alvin Melendez led off with a double to right center, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mark Donadio.
 
Then in the second, Justin Bardwell kicked things off with a double down the left field line.  He stayed at second until Brian Goulard connected on a two-run home run to right, the first of his career.
 
The Rams continued to lead through the fifth inning, as starting pitcher Anthony DiMeglio threw the first five innings, allowing just one run on a solo home run by Austin Zillweger.

However, the Huskies would get to the Fordham bullpen, scoring once in the sixth and five times in the seventh to take a 7-3 lead.
 
Fordham rallied back to within one, 7-6, with a three-run eighth inning.  Luke Stampfl got the rally started with a one-out single, followed by a single by Bardwell.  Matthew Kozuch drew a walk to load the bases.  Ryan Mahoney then came through with a two-run single to right, getting the Rams within two.  Goulard then made it a one-run ballgame with an RBI-single to right center, scoring Kozuch.  The rally would stop there though, as HBU reliever J.T. Newton got back-to-back strikeouts of Matt Tarabeck and Melendez to end the rally.

 
The Rams had one more chance to tie the game in the ninth, as Stampfl reached on a two-out single, but Newton struck out Bardwell to end the game.
 
For Fordham, Stampfl recorded his second four-hit game in as many days, going 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored, while Goulard was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.  Bardwell also had a big day, going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored with Melendez and Lundy each having a pair of hits.
 
DiMeglio got a no-decision with his five innings of work.  Brian Weissert (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs in 1.1 innings, while Anthony Zimmerman also allowed three runs in a third of an inning.  Kyle Martin finished out the pitching effort with three strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief. 

WHO'S HOT:  Senior Luke Stampfl kicked off his senior season with the first two four-hit games of his career against Houston Baptist on opening weekend, batting .692 (9-13) over the series… Sophomore Justin Bardwell also had a good start, hitting .444 (4-9) in two games with a pair of doubles and three runs scored… Sophomore Brian Goulard put together a strong opening to his season at HBU, batting .412 (5-12) with a double, two runs scored, four RBI, and the first home run of his career… Sophomore Reiss Knehr earned his first win of the season, scattering four hits over 3.2 innings of scoreless relief in a season-opening win over the Huskies… Sophomore Mike Cowell was solid in his first collegiate appearance after missing his entire freshman campaign, allowing one run on four hits in four innings with four strikeouts… Sophomore Anthony DiMeglio also had a solid first start of the year, giving up one run on two hits with four strikeouts over five innings of work.
 
WHO'S NEXT:  The Rams will travel to Wilson, North Carolina, next weekend for a four-game series against Canisius from March 3-5.