Baseball Continues A-10 Play At URI

Bronx, N.Y. – (March 28, 2019) – Following its opening Atlantic 10 series win over St. Bonaventure, the Fordham baseball team makes its first conference road trip of the year this weekend to face the Rhode Island Rams at Bill Beck Field in Kingston, Rhode Island.
 
Fordham (15-10, 2-1) is coming off an 8-2 non-conference win on Wednesday over Sacred Heart, as the Rams continued their strong March run, that has seen the team post a 13-5 record and a 1.56 team ERA.
 
Rhode Island enters this series at 8-12 on the year with a 2-1 conference record.  URI took two of three games at George Washington last week, and have won four of its last five contests.  Rhode Island is led offensively by Max Mircovich, who is hitting .385 with five doubles and eight RBI, and Austin White, who is batting .349 with a team-high 14 runs scored.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Friday: Fordham – LHP Matt Mikulski (2-3, 4.71) vs. Rhode Island - RHP Ryan Twitchell (0-1, 2.55) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday: Fordham - RHP John Stankiewicz (4-1, 0.84) vs. Rhode Island – RHP Nick Robinson (1-4, 6.84) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Sunday: Fordham – RHP Alvin Melendez (2-0, 1.83) vs. Rhode Island – RHP Justin Cherry (1-1, 3.38) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and Rhode Island, the teams have met 65 times previously, the vast majority as members of the Atlantic 10.  Rhode Island holds a slight edge in the series at 34-31, after Fordham took two of three games last season at Houlihan Park.
 
LAST TIME OUT (3/27): Behind four strong innings from Anthony DiMeglio and multi-hit games from four different Rams, the Fordham baseball team picked up an 8-2 win over the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park in Fairfield, Connecticut.
 
The Rams opened the scoring in the second inning, as with runners at the corners, Justin Machado laid down an RBI-bunt single to score Nick Labella from third base.  Jake MacKenzie then made it 2-0 Fordham in the third inning, as he singled to left, and moved to second on an error.  He then stole third and scored on another error.
 
Fordham made it 3-0 in the fourth, as with runners at second and third and one out, Jake Baker plated Andy Semo from third with a sacrifice fly.
 
After Sacred Heart made it 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Rams answered with a pair of runs in the fifth for a 5-1 lead.  With one out, Justin Bardwell was hit by a pitch and reached second on a fielder's choice.  Labella then singled to left, scoring Bardwell.  Semo was then hit by a pitch, which was followed by an RBI-single by Jake Guercio.
 
The Pioneers closed to with 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but Fordham closed out the scoring with a three-run seventh inning for the 8-2 win, highlighted by an RBI-single by Semo.
 
Anthony DiMeglio (1-1) earned the win in his first start since February 23^rd.  He threw four innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits with four strikeouts.  Fordham then got strong relief efforts from Gabe Karslo, who threw 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Anthony Zimmerman, who closed out the game by striking out the side in the ninth.   At the plate, Labella was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Guercio was 2-for-3 with two RBI.  Semo went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI with MacKenzie going 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
 
STANKIEWICZ NAMED A-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK (3/25): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Monday, with Fordham pitcher John Stankiewicz (Cherry, Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) being named the conference's Pitcher of the Week.  This is Stankiewicz's second weekly award of the season, having also been named Pitcher of the Week on March 12^th.

 
Stankiewicz earned the weekly honor following his performance on Saturday against St. Bonaventure in an 8-1 victory.  He improved to 4-1 on the season, allowing just one hit over six shutout innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts against the Bonnies.  He has now pitched at least six innings with seven strikeouts in each of his four starts this season.  Currently, Stankiewicz is tied for the Atlantic 10 lead in wins (4), while leading the league in ERA (0.84) and strikeouts (44).
 
WE'RE GOING STREAKIN': For the month of March, sophomore Jake MacKenzie has been the Rams' hottest hitter, batting .408 with 18 runs scored, seven doubles, five triples, 12 RBI, and 22 stolen bases… Freshman Jake Guercio is hitting .325 for the month, totaling eight runs scored, five RBI, and five stolen bases… Junior Alvin Melendez is hitting .291 in March with 13 runs scored, two home runs, and 11 RBI to go with 10 stolen bases… On the hill in March, sophomore John Stankiewicz is 3-1 with a 0.69 ERA in four starts with 35 strikeouts in 26 innings… Melendez is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 14 innings… Junior Kyle Martin has a 0.00 ERA in seven relief appearances, posting a win, three saves and 15 strikeouts… Freshman Cory Wall has also been impressive, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 16 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 25 games, the Rams have already racked up 83 stolen bases, which is second in the country, behind only Wofford with 88.  The Rams are however first in stolen bases per game at 3.32.  Jake MacKenzie leads the Rams with 26 swipes thus far, good for third in the nation, behind UAB's Jess Davis and Mount St. Mary's Myles Nicholson who each have 27.  In all, 13 different Rams have a stolen base this season. 
 
WHO'S NEXT: Following this weekend, Fordham returns home for five straight home games, starting with a contest against Siena on Tuesday, April 2^nd, before hosting Saint Joseph's for a three-game series, April 5-7.