Baseball’s Battle of the Bronx Takes Place Wednesday

Bronx, N.Y. – (March 19, 2019) – The Fordham baseball team returns home on Wednesday to start a mini four-game homestand with the annual Battle of the Bronx match-up against crosstown rival Manhattan College, starting at 3:00 PM at Houlihan Park
 
Fordham (11-9) had a mixed bag of results last week, as the Rams extended their win streak to seven games, before dropping three in a row, and then finishing the week with a win over Towson.  Despite, the 2-3 week, the Rams continue to pitch very well, posting a 1.23 ERA over the past seven days, while holding opponents to a .167 batting average.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE
Wednesday: Fordham – RHP Alvin Melendez (1-0, 1.84) vs. Manhattan - RHP Teddy Sabato (0-2, 6.75) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Battle of the Bronx is one of the longest running series in New York City baseball, dating back to the 1870s.  Since the modern day start in 1923, the Rams and Jaspers have played each other 118 times with Fordham leading the series at 81-34-3.  Last season, Fordham took two of three games in a weekend series with the Jaspers.
 
LAST TIME OUT (3/17): After finding offensive struggles the first two days of the Towson Round Robin, it was only appropriately that on St. Patrick's Day, the Fordham baseball team found a little luck late on Sunday, scoring six times over the final three innings to defeat the Towson Tigers, 6-1, at Schuerholz Park.
 
Fordham certainly had plenty of scoring chances over the first six innings of the game, leaving eight runners on base.
 
The Rams finally broke through in the seventh inning, scoring twice for a 2-1 lead.  With one out, Alvin Melendez reached on an infield single and was sacrificed to second by C.J. Vazquez.  Jake MacKenzie then drew a walk to put runners at first and second.  The duo then pulled off a double steal with the throw from the catcher going into left field, allowing both Melendez and MacKenzie to score.

 
The Tigers cut the Fordham lead in half in the bottom of the seventh, as Brad Powers hit a solo home run to left.
 
Fordham then tacked on two runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to build up a 6-1 lead.  In the eighth, the Rams scored a pair of runs on two wild pitches, while in the ninth, Jake Baker recorded an RBI-single with Nick Labella having a sacrifice fly.
 
The late surge rewarded a superb performance by freshman Cory Wall (2-0), as he put forth his best performance of the season.  He pitched a season-high seven innings, allowing one run on three hits with a season-best seven strikeouts.  Anthony Zimmerman and Kyle Martin then closed out the game with a scoreless inning each.  At the plate, MacKenzie was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and three stolen bases, while Melendez and Vazquez each had a hit and two stolen bases.
 
WALL NAMED A-10 CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK (3/19): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Tuesday, with Fordham pitcher Cory Wall (Roaring Brook, Pa./North Pocono) being named the conference's co-Pitcher of the Week.  He shared the honor with Davidson's Allen Barry. 
 
This is Wall's first career weekly honor and marks the second straight Pitcher of the Week award for the Rams, as John Stankiewicz received the accolade last week.
 
Wall earned the weekly honor following his performance on Sunday at Towson in a 6-1 win.  He had his best performance of the season, as he pitched a season-long seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits with a season-high seven strikeouts.  Wall is currently 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in six appearances with 15 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.
 
MEN OF STEAL: After leading the nation with a school record 169 stolen bases last season, Fordham has picked up right where they left off in 2019.  Through the first 20 games, the Rams have already racked up 64 stolen bases, which is tied for the national lead with Wofford.  Jake MacKenzie leads the Rams with 18 swipes thus far, which is fourth in the nation, with Alvin Melendez right behind him with 12.  In all, 13 different Rams have a stolen base this season. 
 
WHO'S NEXT: After Wednesday's game, Fordham will start Atlantic 10 play with a three-game series against St. Bonaventure at Houlihan Park, March 22-24.