Fairfield, Conn. – (April 15, 2019) – It's a quick turnaround for the Fordham baseball team following its weekend trip to VCU, as the Rams play the Fairfield Stags on Tuesday afternoon in Connecticut. Fordham (22-15) took one of three games from VCU and look to bounce back from an 8-3 loss on Sunday, while Fairfield (19-14) enters Tuesday's contest on a five-game win streak, having swept a three-game series from Saint Peter's over the weekend.
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE
Fordham – RHP
Alvin Melendez (2-1, 2.60) vs. Fairfield – LHP Bryson Cafaro (1-1, 3.52) //
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SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and Fairfield, this is the 55
th all-time meeting between the two Jesuit institutions with Fordham holding a slight edge in the series at 28-26. Fordham won last year's meeting by a score of 4-3 at Houlihan Park, as
Justin Bardwell came up with the pinch-hit RBI-double in the eighth inning for the one-run win.
LAST TIME OUT (4/14): Behind home runs from Zac Ching and Brandon Henson, the VCU Rams took the rubber game of a three-game set from the Fordham Rams, 8-3, at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia.
VCU opened the scoring in the second, as with two outs, Josh Simon doubled to left, scoring Brandon Henson, who just beat the relay throw to the plate for a 1-0 lead. VCU then extended the lead to 5-0 in the third inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Henson and an RBI-single by Liam Hibbits.
Fordham got on the board in the top of the sixth inning, when
Jason Coules led off with a double to left and then scored on a double by
Jake MacKenzie.
VCU responded in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run by Zac Ching, his sixth of the season to go up by a 7-1 score.
After VCU made it 8-1 in the eighth, Fordham finished the scoring in the ninth as the Rams picked up runs on a sacrifice fly by
Colton Snelling and an RBI-double by
Jack Harnisch.
For Fordham,
Anthony DiMeglio (2-3) took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits over four innings of work. At the plate, MacKenzie was 2-for-3 with an RBI-double, while Coules and Godrick each had a hit and a run scored.
RAMS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (4/15): Following this weekend, the Fordham Rams currently rank among the top 15 nationally in a number of categories. Fordham is tied for first in the nation in stolen bases per game at 2.95, while being second overall in swipes with 109, behind only Wofford (112). The Rams are also fifth in the nation in team ERA with an Atlantic 10-best mark of 2.83, and 12
th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.2). Individually,
Jake MacKenzie is third in the nation in stolen bases (32) and triples (6), while
John Stankiewicz is third in ERA (0.90) and 11
th in WHIP (0.80).
WELCOME TO THE 200/400-CLUB (4/6): Head coach
Kevin Leighton reached a coaching plateau on April 6
th in Fordham's doubleheader sweep of the Saint Joseph's Hawks. He recorded his 199
th and 200
th coaching wins at Rose Hill, becoming the fifth Fordham baseball coach to reach that milestone, joining Jack Lynch, Fred Smith, Jack Coffey, and Dan Gallagher. Overall, Leighton also reached 400 career wins, as he also had 200 wins at Manhattan College.
WHO'S NEXT: The Fordham baseball team hosts the Saint Louis Billikens for a three-game series, April 18-20 at Houlihan Park.
