Baseball Hosts Army West Point on Wednesday

Bronx, N.Y. - (February 20, 2018) - With weather and temperatures predicted to be sunny and in the mid-60s, the Fordham baseball team will have its earliest home opener in team history on Wednesday at Houlihan Park, as the Rams host the Army West Point Black Knights at 3:00 PM.
 
This is will be only the third time that Fordham has played a home game in February, as the Rams took on Fairfield on February 28, 2012 and Saint Peter's on February 26, 2013.
 
Probable Starters/Game Coverage
Fordham - RHP John Stankiewicz vs. Army West Point – RHP Jacob Carte // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Series History
This will be the 93^rd all-time meeting between Fordham and Army West Point.  The series dates back to 1902 with Fordham holding a slight edge in the all-time record at 47-44-1.  The two teams have not met since the 2014 season, when Fordham pulled out a 5-4 victory at Houlihan Park.
 
O Captain, My Captain
Senior Ben Greenberg will serve as the Fordham team captain this season.

 
Mikulski Named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week
The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its first set of weekly baseball awards on Monday with Fordham freshman Matt Mikulski being selected as the league's Rookie of the Week. Mikulski was stellar in his debut performance for the Rams against Wofford. He tossed 3.2 innings of two-hit relief, allowing just one run and striking out seven batters to earn his first collegiate win over the Terriers.  He had a stretch of five straight strikeouts in the game, which included striking out the side in the fifth inning.
 
Pitching Rules Opening Weekend
Fordham went 1-1-1 on opening weekend, playing a pair of extra inning affairs.  The Fordham pitching staff was the story, racking up 43 strikeouts in three games, and holding opponents to a .202 average.  In the first NCAA statistics report, Fordham is sixth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (13.3).
 
Preseason Polls
The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its preseason coaches' poll for the 2018 baseball season on February 8th.  Saint Louis is the preseason favorite, earning six first place votes and totaling 157 points, just ahead of VCU, who received three first place votes and 153 points.  Rhode Island was picked third, garnering two first place votes and 146 points, followed by George Mason in fourth at 107 points.  Defending Atlantic 10 champion Davidson was selected fifth with 106 points and two first place votes, followed by George Washington (105), Saint Joseph's (95), Fordham (92), Richmond (67), St. Bonaventure (56), Dayton (46), Massachusetts (26), and La Salle (20).
 
Who's Next
The Rams will travel to Tampa this weekend for a three-game series against USF Bulls from February 23-25.