Baseball Hosts Saint Louis This Week

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 17, 2019) – The Fordham baseball team is back in conference action this week, as the Rams will host the Saint Louis Billikens at Houlihan Park.  Due to the weather forecast, the schedule has shifted with the two teams playing a noon doubleheader on Thursday, April 18^th, while having an 11:00 AM game on Friday, April 19^th.
 
Fordham (22-16, 7-5 A-10) are looking to get back on track after dropping four of the last five games, including a 6-5 loss to Fairfield on Tuesday.  Saint Louis (15-20, 4-5 A-10) is also trying to get in a groove, having lost nine of their last 13 games.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE
Thursday (G1): Fordham – LHP Matt Mikulski (4-4, 3.20) vs. Saint Louis – RHP Connor Lehmann (2-4, 3.38) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Thursday (G2): Fordham – RHP Anthony DiMeglio (2-3, 3.76) vs. Saint Louis – TBA // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Friday: Fordham – RHP John Stankiewicz (6-1, 0-90) vs. Saint Louis – RHP Cody Luther (5-2, 2.30) // Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and Saint Louis, the two teams have met 23 times since the Billikens joined the Atlantic 10 in 2006.  Saint Louis holds a 13-10 edge in the series, but the Billikens have not visited the Bronx for a three-game series since 2015.  The last meetings came in 2017 at Saint Louis, where the two teams split a doubleheader with the third game being cancelled due to weather.  In games at Houlihan Park, Fordham has won six of the last seven meetings, including a series sweep in 2015.
 
LAST TIME OUT (4/16): Fairfield's Giacomo Brancato hit a solo home run in the fifth and knocked in the go-ahead run in the eighth, as the Stags came back to defeat the Fordham Rams, 6-5, at Alumni Diamond in Fairfield, Connecticut.
 
Fordham struck first in the second inning, as Matt Tarabek led off with a double down the left field line and was sacrificed to third by C.J. Vazquez.  After Jason Coules reached on an infield single, Andy Semo ripped a double off a diving third baseman's glove to score Tarabek from third.  The Rams made it 2-0 in the second inning, courtesy of an RBI-single by Justin Bardwell, scoring Jake Guercio from second. Guercio reached base on a single and stole second.
 
Fordham extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning.  Guercio led off with a single to left center and moved to second on a balk.  Jake MacKenzie then singled to left, moving Guercio to third.  After a stolen base by MacKenzie, Nick Labella plated Guercio with a ground out for a 3-0 lead.  Tarabek then drove home MacKenzie with a single to right for a 4-0 edge.
 
The Rams would take that lead into the sixth, but the Stags rallied for five runs to take a 5-4 lead, highlighted by a solo home run by Giacomo Brancato and an RBI-single by Jack Gethings.
 
Fordham tied the game at five in the top of the eighth on an RBI-single by C.J. Vazquez, but the Stags came right back in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-5 lead, loading the bases with one out and getting an RBI-ground out by Brancato.

The Rams had a chance to tie in the ninth, as Billy Godrick was hit by a pitch to start the inning and beat a throw to second on a sacrifice by Guercio.  After a wild pitch moved the runners up a base, MacKenzie lined out to center.  Godrick tagged up, but the throw was in time where the catcher tagged out Godrick on the second try at the plate.  Bardwell then flew out to center to end the game.
 
For Fordham, Anthony Zimmerman (3-2) took the loss allowing one unearned run in his one inning of work.  Alvin Melendez started the game, pitching three hitless innings with a strikeout.  At the plate, Tarabek was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI, while Guercio was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base. 

RAMS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (4/17): Entering Thursday, the Fordham Rams currently rank among the top 15 nationally in a number of categories.  Fordham is second in the nation in stolen bases per game at 2.95, while being second overall in swipes with 112, behind only Wofford (117).  The Rams are also seventh in the nation in team ERA with an Atlantic 10-best mark of 2.87, 13^th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0), 13^th in sacrifice bunts (30), and 13^th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.28).  Individually, Jake MacKenzie is third in the nation in stolen bases (33) and triples (6), while John Stankiewicz is third in ERA (0.90), 11^th in WHIP (0.80), and 18^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.89).
 
WHO'S HOT IN CONFERENCE PLAY: Sophomore Nick Labella is hitting .400 in Atlantic 10 play with seven runs scored and seven RBI… Sophomore Jake MacKenzie is batting .340 in league action with nine runs scored, five extra-base hits, five RBI, and 10 stolen bases… In four starts, sophomore John Stankiewicz is 3-0 with a 0.76 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 23.2 innings, while fellow sophomore Matt Mikulski is 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched… In six relief appearances, junior Kyle Martin has two saves, a 0.93 ERA, and 15 strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched.
 
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 will now begin their longest road swing of the season, a nine-game stretch with mid-week contests against Fairleigh Dickinson on April 23^rd and Saint Peter's on April 24^th, before heading to UMass Lowell for a three-game series, April 27-28.