Baseball Faces VCU in Crucial A-10 Series

Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham baseball team will look to get back on track this weekend after a pair of mid-week losses, which snapped a five-game-win streak.  The Rams will host the VCU Rams in one of the many crucial Atlantic 10 series to start on Friday.  VCU currently sits atop the A-10 standings at 10-2 in the league (22-15 overall), while Fordham sits 2 ½ games back in fourth place at 7-4 in the league (18-15 overall).
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Friday – RHP Mike Cowell (0-3, 5.76) vs. RHP Sean Thompson (5-3, 3.02) // Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow on Twitter @FordhamBaseball
Saturday – RHP Jimmy Murphy (4-4, 2.59) vs. LHP Brooks Vial (5-3, 2.24) // Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow on Twitter @FordhamBaseball
Sunday – RHP Reiss Knehr (3-3, 3.23) vs. RHP Michael Dailey (4-2, 4.40) // Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow on Twitter @FordhamBaseball

SERIES HISTORY: Fordham and VCU have met each other 16 times previously, with VCU getting the better of the "Battle of the Rams" with an 11-5 series edge.  The two teams did not meet last year.  The last meeting came in 2015, where VCU pulled out a series sweep of Fordham in Richmond.  The last time the two teams met in the Bronx was 2014, when Fordham came away with a 2-1 series win.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Behind home runs from Chandler Bengtson, Joe Engel, and Matt Karo, the Columbia Lions came away with a 6-1 victory over the Fordham Rams in baseball action on Wednesday at Houlihan Park.

After a scoreless first inning, Columbia got on the board first, as Chandler Bengtson reached on an infield single and scored on a two-run home run by Joe Engel, his first of the season.
 
The Lions made it 3-0 in the third, when Matt Karo went yard with a solo home run to left, his first of the season.
 
Columbia extended the lead to 5-0 by the seventh inning before Fordham finally got on the board.  Mark Donadio legged out a leadoff double, while Matt Tarabek reached on an infield single.  After a strikeout, Luke Stampfl singled through the right side to score Donadio from third.
 
The Lions though regained their five-run lead in the eighth on a Bengtson solo home run to center, his fifth of the season.  That run capped the scoring as Columbia would win by the 6-1 margin.
 
For Fordham, the Rams managed just five hits against seven Lion pitchers, led by Donadio, who finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.  Brian Weissert (1-3) took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in three innings of work.  Marc Bisogno pitched two scoreless innings of relief with Alex Hernandez adding a scoreless inning in the ninth.  Kyle Martin also tied a career-high with five strikeouts over his 1.2 innings of relief.
 
RAMS EARN WEEKLY ACCOLADES (4/17): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Monday with two Rams picking up weekly accolades, as sophomore pitcher Reiss Knehr (Glen Head, N.Y.)  was named the conference's Pitcher of the Week, while freshman Kyle Martin (Oceanside, N.Y.) was selected as co-Rookie of the Week.  In addition to the conference accolades, Knehr was also one of seven players to be named Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week.
 
Knehr improved to 3-3 on the season, allowing just one hit and two walks over 8.1 innings of work with a career-high 16 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Saint Joseph's on Friday.  The 16 strikeouts were the most by a Ram since Jack McQuade struck out 17 in a game against CCNY on April 12, 1956, and tied for the sixth-most in a game by a Ram pitcher with Johnny Murphy, who struck out 16 against Columbia on April 23, 1929.   Knehr took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and had a streak of 11 straight strikeouts against the Hawks.  The 11 consecutive strikeouts were the most by a college pitcher since Navy's Luke Gillingham struck out the first 12 batters at North Carolina A&T on February 13, 2015.  The strikeout streak and the no-hit bid ended on a leadoff single by Deon Stafford, Jr. in the seventh inning.

 
Martin earned a pair of relief wins this week, improving to 5-1 on the season.  The five wins are currently tied for second in the Atlantic 10.  Against Siena, Martin came in to the game with one out and the tying run at the plate in a 6-3 game.  Martin would get the next two outs and pitch another scoreless inning to get credit for the win.  On Thursday, he threw a scoreless ninth inning to keep Fordham within one, trailing 3-2 to Saint Joseph's, and was the beneficiary of Jason Lundy's game-winning two-run home run, getting his second win of the week.
 
WHO'S HOT: Senior Matthew Kozuch enters this weekend on a seven-game hit streak... He is batting .368 with 10 runs scored, seven doubles, and eight RBI in his last 15 games... Senior Mark Donadio is batting .378 in his last 13 contests with nine runs scored, five doubles, six RBI, and three stolen bases... Freshman Jake Baker is batting .306 in his last 15 games with 11 runs scored, eight RBI, and five stolen bases... Freshman Alvin Melendez is batting .333 in his last eight games, while posting a 2-0 record with two saves and a 0.77 ERA in his last six pitching appearances... Freshman Kyle Martin is 2-1 with a save in his last five appearances to go with a 1.74 ERA, 16 strikeouts, and a .162 opponent batting average.

DEFENDING THE "HOU": The Rams are out to a 13-3 start in 16 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 89-55 at home, good for a .618 winning percentage The 13-3 mark is also Fordham's best start at home since 1994.  The 1994 squad finished with an 18-4 home record.
 
WHO'S NEXT Following this series, Fordham wraps up a five-game home stretch against Yale on Tuesday, April 25^th, beginning at 6:00 PM at Houlihan Park.  The Rams then travel to Rhode Island for a three-game Atlantic 10 series, April 28-30.