Baseball Begins Road Swing This Week

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 22, 2019) – Following a couple of days off following Easter Break, the Fordham baseball team begins a nine-game road swing this week in New Jersey with a pair of mid-week contests.  First, Fordham starts with Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 PM, and then takes on Saint Peter's on Wednesday at 3:30 PM.
 
A change of scenary might be exactly what Fordham (23-18) needs, having lost six of their last eight games and looking for a fresh start.  Fairleigh Dickinson (8-27-1) enters Tuesday's game with losses in three of their last four, but the Knights bring some heavy bats with 39 home runs, 17 of which come from the duo of Sal Monticciolo (9) and Tom Ruscitti (8).  Saint Peter's (2-31) will take on La Salle on Tuesday prior to Fordham on Wednesday, having lost eight straight games.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE
Tuesday: Fordham – RHP Gabe Karslo (1-0, 1.67) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson – RHP Griffin Gilbert (0-2, 8.84) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Wednesday: Fordham – RHP Cory Wall (2-0, 2.95) vs. Saint Peter's – TBA // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and Fairleigh Dickinson, this will be the 52^nd all-time meeting between the two teams, who have not met since 2008.  The series, which began in 1965, currently stands with Fordham holding a 30-20-1 edge in the series.  The Rams have won the last 11 meetings, dating back to 1997.
 
On Wednesday, it will also be the 52^nd meeting for Fordham and Saint Peter's, with the Rams posting a 42-9 record against its fellow Jesuit institution.  Fordham has won eight of the last nine contests, which included two wins last season by scores of 18-0 and 29-1.
 
LAST TIME OUT (4/19): Saint Louis' Cody Luther struck out 11 over eight innings, while a seventh inning triple play ended a potential Fordham rally, as the Billikens edged the Rams, 4-1, at Houlihan Park on Friday.
 
The game started as a pitcher's duel between Fordham's John Stankiewicz and Saint Louis' Cody Luther.  Over the first five innings, Stankiewicz was dealing with seven strikeouts and no hits allowed, while Luther, who threw a no-hitter last weekend, had seven strikeouts and gave up just one hit to Jake MacKenzie.
 
The tide turned in the sixth, as the Billikens recorded three singles in the first four batters to take a 1-0 lead, the last being an RBI-single by Scott Youngbrandt.
 
After Saint Louis made it 2-0 in the seventh on an RBI-single by Braxton Stowe, Fordham looked they were going to get Luther as Justin Bardwell and Matt Tarabek reached base on back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the seventh.  However, Nick Labella hit a line drive, one-hopper right to the third baseman, who tagged third base and then went around the horn for a triple play and kill the Fordham rally.

 
The Billikens tacked on two more runs in the eighth for a 4-0 lead before Fordham cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame.  With two outs, Alvin Melendez walked, stole second, and scored on an RBI-single by Jake Baker.
 
The game then went to the ninth, where Fordham needed a rally and would get the tying run to the plate against Saint Louis reliever Ryan Lefner.  Bardwell reached base on an error with one out and moved to second on a double by Tarabek.  Lefner though would strike out Labella and pinch-hitter Billy Godrick to record his second save of the week, and third of the season.
 
Stankiewicz (6-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings.  At the plate, Tarabek was 2-for-4 with a double, with Baker going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
 
RAMS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (4/22): Following this weekend, 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 2.85, while being second overall in swipes with 117, behind only Wofford (118).  The Rams are also eighth in the nation in team ERA with an Atlantic 10-best mark of 2.95, 11^th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.26), and 15^th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0).  Individually, Jake MacKenzie is second in the nation in stolen bases (34) and fourth in triples (6), while John Stankiewicz is sixth in ERA (1.11) and 10^th in WHIP (0.81).
 
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 continues its road swing at UMass Lowell this weekend, April 27-28 with a three-game series.