Baseball Travels to La Salle for A-10 Series

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 12, 2018) – After concluding a ten-game homestand, the Fordham baseball team hits the road this weekend, as the Rams travel to Philadelphia for a three-game Atlantic 10 series against the La Salle Explorers at Hank DeVincent Field.   Fordham (19-10-1, 4-2 A-10) wrapped up their homestand with a 7-3 record after splitting a doubleheader with Siena on Wednesday.  La Salle enters the weekend at 9-21 overall, 1-5 in the Atlantic 10.
 
Probable Starters/Game Coverage
Friday - Fordham – RHP Reiss Knehr (3-2, 2.88) vs. La Salle - LHP Jackson Ray (1-1, 3.82) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday – Fordham – RHP Ben Greenberg (4-1, 1.34) vs. La Salle - RHP Colin Kennedy (1-5, 8.70) // Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Sunday – Fordham – RHP Anthony DiMeglio (4-0, 3.86) vs. La Salle - TBA // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Series History
Fordham and La Salle have met 59 times since the first meeting back on March 31, 1984.  All 59 match-ups have been conference games in either the MAAC or the Atlantic 10 with Fordham holding a 35-23-1 edge in the series.  The Rams have won each of the last three series with the Explorers, including last year at Houlihan Park.  La Salle won the opener, 7-6 in 10 innings, while Fordham rebounded to win the final two contests, 5-2 and 4-3 in 10 innings.
 
Last Time Out
Due to last week's postponement, the Fordham baseball team hosted the Siena Saints for a twinbill on Wednesday afternoon at Houlihan Park.  Fordham captured game one, 8-7 in eight innings on a walk-off single by Billy Godrick, while falling in game two by a 5-3 final in seven innings.
 
In game one, Siena jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the second inning, as Joe Drpich and Jordan Bishop both hit solo home runs to right.  Fordham tied the game at two in the third, as Jake MacKenzie reached third on a double and an error, and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Billy Godrick.  Matt Tarabek then hit a solo home run to left center, his second of the season, to tie the game.
 
Siena then took advantage of four walks in the fifth inning, as well as three-run double by Phil Madonna and an RBI-single by Brian Kelly to pull out to a 7-2 lead.  Fordham answered back with a five-run rally of their own in the sixth, which began with three straight singles by Brian Goulard, Nick Labella, and Nico Doria to score a run.  After Jake Baker was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Justin Bardwell plated Labella with a groundout to make it, 7-4.  MacKenzie then roped a two-run double to score Doria and Baker, while advancing to third on an error.  He later scored on a groundout by Godrick to tie the game at seven.
 
The scheduled seven-inning affair went into extra innings where Siena looked to take the lead on a single by Zach Durfee with runners at first and second.  However, Baker put a perfect throw from left field to Doria at the plate for the tag to end the threat.  The Rams then walked off with the win in the bottom of the eighth.  With a runner on first and one out, MacKenzie ripped his third double of the game to left.  The ball though went over the wall for a ground rule-double, keeping the runner at third.  Godrick then came through with a single to the left side to score the game-winning run.

 
Godrick finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI, while MacKenzie was 3-for-5 with three doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored.  Tarabek finished 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run with Labella also having a pair of hits.  Anthony Zimmerman (1-0) earned the win in relief, posting two strikeouts in the eighth.  Starteer John Stankiewicz went the first four innings, allowing two runs on two hits with three strikeouts.
 
In game two, the Saints again struck first on the scoreboard, scoring twice in the third on a sacrifice fly and an RBI-single.  Fordham struggled offensively with only one hit through the first five innings, but cut the deficit to 2-1 in the sixth inning on a pinch-hit RBI-single by MacKenzie.
 
The Saints then put together a three-run rally in the seventh to extend the lead to 5-1.  Fordham attempted another late inning rally, getting RBI-singles by Labella and MacKenzie to make it a 5-3 game with two on and two out with the game-winning run at the plate.  However, Godrick could not come up with the same magic from game one, as he struck out to end the game.
 
For Fordham, Matt Mikulski (1-3) took the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits over 4.2 innings of work with three strikeouts.  Joseph Quintal pitched the final 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits.  At the plate, MacKenzie was 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and two RBI, while Justin Machado also had a pair of hits.
 
Goulard & MacKenzie Earn A-10 Weekly Award (4/9)
The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its set of weekly baseball awards with Fordham junior Brian Goulard being named the conference's co-Player of the Week, while freshman Jake MacKenzie was the league's Rookie of the Week.  It is the first career weekly honor for both players with MacKenzie being the fourth different Ram freshman named Rookie of the Week.

Goulard had a big hand in all three of Fordham's wins this week. He batted .500 (7-for-14) with two runs scored, a triple, six RBI, and two stolen bases in the Rams four games. He drove in three runs in Fordham's school-record 29-1 win over Saint Peter's on Wednesday. Goulard then registered three-hit games in both Fordham wins over Rhode Island on Saturday and Sunday. He knocked in two runs on Sunday and one on Saturday and finished the week with an on-base percentage of .500 and a .643 slugging percentage.
 
MacKenzie hit safely in all four games this week, helping Fordham to a 3-1 record. The second baseman batted .444 (8-for-18) with three runs scored, two doubles, two triples, four RBI, and a .500 on base percentage. He was 2-for-6 with a triple, two runs scored, and three RBI on Wednesday against Saint Peter's. He then went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI in game one versus URI. MacKenzie was 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored in game two, while having a hit and a stolen base in game three.
 
We're Goin' Streaking
During the Rams' homestand, freshman Jake MacKenzie batted .444 with 11 runs scored, nine extra-base hits, 14 RBI, nine stolen bases and a .523 on-base percentage… Sophomore Jake Baker hit .393 during the homestand with 11 runs scored, three RBI, and eight stolen bases… Sophomore Billy Godrick batted .324 with six runs scored, nine RBI, and nine stolen bases with junior Brian Goulard batting .313 with seven runs, seven RBI, and five steals… On the hill, sophomore Kyle Martin is 2-0 with two saves in his last eight appearances with a 1.13 ERA and 16 strikeouts… Junior Anthony DiMeglio is 3-0 in his last four starts with a 3.12 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 26 innings.
 
He's Going, He's Going
A popular phrase heard at Fordham's Houlihan Park at any Rams' home game is "He's going, he's going!"  That phrase has certainly been true throughout the 2018 season.  This year, the Rams have 106 stolen bases, which marks the 11^th time that Fordham has surpassed the 100-stolen base plateau in team history.  The Rams rank first in the Atlantic 10 and first in the country in overall steals, while the team's 3.53 average is also tops in the nation.  Individually, 11 Rams have at least one stolen bases this season and six are in double figures.
 
Who's Next
Following this weekend, the Rams are back in action on Tuesday, April 17^th, when the Rams host Fairfield for a 6:00 PM game at Houlihan Park.