Baseball Travels to VCU This Weekend

Richmond, Va. – (April 11, 2019) – Winners of five of its last six games, the Fordham baseball team continues a string of five straight road games with a three-game Atlantic 10 series at VCU this weekend at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia.
 
Fordham (21-13, 6-3) enters the weekend two games back of first place VCU (25-8, 8-1) in the conference standings.  The Rams will rely heavily on its pitching staff to try and keep VCU in check, as the other Rams are batting .309 as a team this season with five regulars batting over .300, while averaging close to eight runs per game.
 
Due to the forecast, there is a slight change to the schedule as Friday's game will be a 3:00 PM start.  Saturday's game remains at 2:00 PM with Sunday still at 1:00 PM.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Friday: Fordham – LHP Matt Mikulski (4-3, 3.09) vs. VCU – RHP Justin Sorokowski (1-1, 4.24) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday: Fordham - RHP John Stankiewicz (5-1, 1.02) vs. VCU - RHP Curtis Bafus (1-1, 5.53) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Sunday: Fordham – RHP Anthony DiMeglio (2-2, 2.42) vs. VCU – RHP Connor Gillispie (2-0, 1.57) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and VCU, the teams have met 17 times previously with VCU holding an 11-6 edge.  During the regular season, VCU has swept Fordham in the last two three-game series in 2015 and 2017, but Fordham got the better of VCU at the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship.  The Maroon and White took a 3-2 decision from VCU in the opening game of the Championship.
 
LAST TIME OUT (4/10): The Siena Saints scored eight times in the eighth inning to seal away a 12-0 victory over the Fordham Rams on Wednesday at Connors Park in Loudonville, N.Y.
 
The Saints took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, taking advantage of six walks in the frame, which forced in two runs.  Siena added to the lead in the fifth on a two-run single by Brendan Conley, making it a 4-0 game.  The game then got blown open in the eighth as Siena scored eight times in the inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Tim Carroll to cap off the win.
 
Fordham did not muster much offensively, totaling five hits and three stolen bases in the game.  Alvin Melendez finished 2-for-4 with his 20^th stolen base of the season to lead the Rams, while Jake MacKenzie, Nick Labella, and Jason Coules each had one hit.  Brian Weissert (0-2) took the loss, allowing two runs over three innings of work with four strikeouts, while Marc Bisogno gave up two runs in his two innings of work.  Mike Cowell tied a season-high with five strikeouts in his two innings of relief.  Garrett Crowley and Michael Ghiorzi combined to throw the final inning.
 
DiMEGLIO NAMED A-10 CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK (4/8): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Monday, with Fordham pitcher Anthony DiMeglio (Darien, Conn./Darien) being named the conference's Co-Pitcher of the Week.  He shares the honor with Dayton's Ben Hughes.  This is DiMeglio's first weekly award of the season, and marks the fifth consecutive week that a Fordham player has been Pitcher of Week, joining John Stankiewicz (twice), Matt Mikulski, and Cory Wall.
 
DiMeglio was outstanding on Sunday in Fordham's 6-0 win over Saint Joseph's to complete a three-game series sweep.  He tossed eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, and tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts.  The eight innings pitched also tied a career-best.
 
BARDWELL NAMED TO BUSTER POSEY AWARD WATCH LIST (4/3): For the third consecutive season, senior Justin Bardwell is on the Watch List for the National Catcher of the Year Award.  Previously the Johnny Bench Award, the award is in its 20th year and has been renamed the Buster Posey Award in honor of the former All-American catcher at Florida State. 
 
Bardwell leads the Rams this season with 21 RBI, while being second in doubles (6) and home runs (3).  He enters this week just two doubles shy of 50 for his career, which would make him the third Ram to reach that milestone, joining Greg Smith and Pete DeLuca.

 
RAMS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (4/11): The Fordham Rams currently rank among the national leaders in three major categories this season - stolen bases, ERA, and strikeouts per nine innings.  Fordham currently leads the nation in stolen bases per game at 3.00, while being second overall in swipes with 102, behind only Wofford (103).  The Rams are also third in the nation in team ERA with an Atlantic 10-best mark of 2.70, trailing only Bradley (2.20) and UCLA (2.57), as well as tenth in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.4.
 
Individually, Jake MacKenzie and John Stankiewicz are in the top ten in the NCAA as well.  MacKenzie is second in triples (6) and third in stolen bases (30), while Stankiewicz is sixth in ERA (1.02).
 
30-30 MAN: With his 30^th stolen base of the season against Columbia on April 9^th, sophomore Jake MacKenzie joined some rarified air in the Fordham record.  He became the first Ram since Shawn Harris in 1993 and 1994 to record consecutive 30 stolen base seasons.  The stolen base was also the 64^th of MacKenzie's career, moving him past Vincent Ferraro (1980-83) for sole possession of tenth on Fordham's career stolen base list.
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams wrap up a five-game road swing on Tuesday, April 16^th, when Fordham travels to Fairfield for a 3:30 PM game.  The Rams then host Saint Louis for a three-game series from April 18-20 at Houlihan Park with the April 20^th game being Alumni Day, honoring all golden Rams, who celebrate over 50 years with the Fordham baseball program.