Baseball Hosts Siena on Wednesday

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 2, 2019) – After suffering two tough losses to end the weekend, the Fordham baseball team is back on the field on Wednesday, as the Rams host the Siena Saints at Houlihan Park.
 
Fordham (16-12) lost the final two games of their Atlantic 10 series at Rhode Island, the last of which came in 12 innings.  The losses put a sour taste on the end of a very good month of March for Fordham.  The Rams were 14-7 in March, posting a 1.75 team ERA, while holding opponents to a .205 batting average.
 
Siena (7-16) is coming off a weekend series sweep of Rider.  The Saint are led by Devan Kruzinski, who leads the team in hits (21) and RBI (15) this season, while Brian Kelly has a team-best 15 runs scored and 17 hits, which is second on the team.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE
Wednesday: Fordham – RHP Alvin Melendez (2-1, 3.05) vs. Siena - RHP  Avery Short  (0-0, 6.00) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and Siena, this is the first of two meetings this season, with the latter coming at Siena on April 10^th.  The Rams and Saints have met 20 times previously with Siena holding an 11-9 edge in the series.  Last season, the teams played a doubleheader on April 11^th, with each team earning a win.  Fordham won the opener 8-7 in eight innings, while Siena grabbed the nightcap, 5-3 in seven innings.
 
LAST TIME OUT (3/31): Rhode Island's Josh Brodeur connected on his fifth hit of the game to score Max Mircovich to give Rhode Island a 9-8 win over the Fordham Rams in the resumption of Saturday's series finale.
 
To recap the first 11 innings, Rhode Island opened with a 3-0 lead by the second inning before Fordham scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to tie the game.  In the fifth, Alvin Melendez singled home Jake Guercio from second, after he reached on a hit by pitch.  Then, it was an RBI-double by C.J. Vazquez and an RBI-single by Jake Baker in the sixth, which tied the game.
 
Rhode Island regained the lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, but Fordham tied the game at four in the top of the seventh as Jake MacKenzie singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a failed pickoff attempt.
 
The roller coaster game continued as URI scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to take a 7-4 lead, highlighted by a two-run single from Heiss.
 
Fordham then came back for a third time in the game, scoring four run in the top of the ninth to take an 8-7 lead.  Guercio and MacKenzie led off with back-to-back singles and moved up a base on a ground out.  Nick Labella then ripped a single up the middle to score both runners.  Justin Bardwell then ripped a two-run home run to left, his second of the year, to give Fordham an 8-7 lead.
 
The lead was short lived as Rhode Island scored once in the ninth to knot the game at eight, following a Fordham error.
 
Neither team could break the tie through two extra innings, forcing the umpires to suspend the game due to darkness.
 
The game resumed on Sunday morning with a base hit by Bardwell to start the 12^th inning, but Fordham was unable to score.  Then in the bottom of the frame, URI loaded the bases with two outs on two walks and a hit by a pitch.  Josh Brodeur then singled home Max Mircovich from third to win the game.
 
For Fordham, Labella was 3-for-6 with two RBI, while MacKenzie went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base.  Bardwell finished 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI.  Fordham used six pitchers in the game, highlighted by five innings of relief by Gabe Karslo, allowing one run with six strikeouts.

 
MIKULSKI NAMED A-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK (4/1): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Monday, with Fordham pitcher Matt Mikulski (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland) being named the conference's Pitcher of the Week.  This is Mikulski's first weekly award of the season, and marks the fourth consecutive week that a Fordham player has been Pitcher of Week, joining John Stankiewicz (twice) and Cory Wall.
 
Mikulski posted his third win of the season on Friday with a 2-0 decision at Rhode Island.  Mikulski tossed seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and three walks, while tying a career-high with 10 strikeouts.  It marked the second consecutive week that he reached double-digit strikeouts in a game.
 
For the year, Mikulski is second on the Rams in wins (3), strikeouts (32), innings pitched (35.2).
 
RAMS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS: Through the end of March, the Fordham Rams currently rank among the national leaders in both stolen bases and ERA this season.  Fordham currently leads the nation in stolen bases per game at 3.18, while being second overall in swipes with 89, behind only Wofford (95).  The Rams are also eighth in the nation in team ERA with an Atlantic 10-best mark of 2.84.
               
Individually, Jake MacKenzie is tied for the top spot in stolen bases with 28, along with UAB's Jess Davis and Mount St. Mary's Myles Nicholson, while being second in the nation in triples with 5.
 
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 28 games, the Rams have already racked up 89 stolen bases, which is behind only national leader Wofford with 95.  Jake MacKenzie leads the Rams with 28 swipes thus far, which is tied for first in the nation.  In all, 13 different Rams have a stolen base this season. 
 
WHO'S NEXT: After Wednesday's game, Fordham will stay at home for a three-game Atlantic 10 series against Saint Joseph's, April 5-7.