Baseball Begins 2019 At Texas A&M

Game Notes
 
College Station, Texas – (February 14, 2019) - For the second time in the last three seasons, the Fordham baseball team will begin its season in the Lone Star State of Texas, as the Rams will take on the Texas A&M Aggies in a three-game series at Olsen Park at Blue Bell Field.
 
In Fordham's previous trip to Texas, the Rams took one of three games from Houston Baptist in 2017.  This series is also Fordham's first against an SEC opponent since a three-game series at LSU in 2016.
 
Fordham is coming off a 35-win season, which tied for the second most in the modern day history of the program (post-1900), behind only the 36-win seasons in 1988 and 1990.  The Rams also posted 16 Atlantic 10 wins in 2018, which tied for the third most since joining the conference, only behind the 19 victories in 2007 and the 17 in 2005.
 
The Rams return the majority of its lineup in 2019, which includes eight starters, and most of a pitching staff that broke the team's strikeout record for the fourth consecutive year (536), while having the lowest team ERA in over three decades (3.36).
 
Probable Starters/Game Coverage
Friday: Fordham – LHP Matt Mikulski vs. LHP John Doxakis // Live Video (SEC Network+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday: Fordham - RHP Anthony DiMeglio vs. LHP Asa Lacy // Live Video (SEC Network+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Sunday: RHP Alvin Melendez vs. LHP Jonathan Childress // Live Video (SEC Network+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball

SERIES HISTORY: Fordham has never played Texas A&M previously.
 
FORDHAM TO HOST 2019 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP: For the fourth time, Fordham's Houlihan Park will serve as the host site for the Atlantic 10 Championship.  It will take place May 22nd through May 25th.  Previously, the Rams hosted in 2006, 2012, and 2016.
 
RAMS CELEBRATE 160th ANNIVERSARY: The Fordham baseball team celebrates the 160th anniversary of the creation of the team in 2019.  The Rams or "Rose Hills" as they were known as began play in 1859 and stand as the NCAA's all-time wins leader with 4,479 over 158 seasons. (The Rams did not field a team in 1944 due to World War II).
 
FORDHAM PICKED FOURTH IN A-10 PRESEASON COACHES POLL (2/12): The Atlantic 10 Conference released its preseason baseball coaches poll on February 12th with Fordham being picked fourth out of 13 teams in a vote of the league's head coaches.
 
Fordham was one of four teams to receive a first place vote in the poll, along with Saint Louis (9), VCU (2), and Davidson (1).
 
Saint Louis is the preseason favorite, followed by VCU, Davidson, Fordham, George Mason, Richmond, Rhode Island, George Washington, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, La Salle, and Massachusetts.  All 13 teams will vie for a spot in the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be at Fordham's Houlihan Park, May 22-25.
               
BARDWELL NAMED TO COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM (12/17): Fordham senior catcher Justin Bardwell (Chino Hills, Calif.) was one of six catchers listed on Collegiate Baseball's Division I Preseason All-America Team that was released on December 17th.

 
Bardwell along with Washington's Nic Kahle were named Third Team Preseason All-America, while Baylor's Shea Langeliers, Missouri State's Drew Millas, and Jacksonville State's Nic Gaddis earned Second Team honors.  The lone First Team honoree was Oregon State's Adley Rutschman, who was also the publication's projected Player of the Year.
 
Bardwell was also one of two Atlantic 10 players on the preseason All-America Team, joining VCU's Mac McCarty.
 
Bardwell, who has twice been on the Johnny Bench Award Watch List for the nation's top catcher, is coming off a career-year, setting new personal-highs for batting average (.284), runs (28), hits (57), doubles (20), RBI (36), walks (18), and stolen bases (4).  He was the Atlantic 10 leader in doubles in 2018, becoming the fifth Ram to have 20 doubles in a single season.
 
Aside from leading the team in doubles, Bardwell was second on the squad in hits and RBI, while being third in batting average, multi-hit games (14), and multi-RBI games (8).  He earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week once during the 2018 season, as well as academic honors for the first time in his career.  He was named to both the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the ECAC Academic Honor Roll.
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams will next be in action February 22-24, when Fordham travels to Jacksonville, Florida for a four-game series at North Florida.