Baseball Travels To Albany on Tuesday

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 29, 2019) – The Fordham baseball team continues its nine-game road swing on Tuesday with a road game at Albany, beginning at 3:00 PM.
 
Fordham (26-20) is 3-2 so far its nine-game road trip, having won the first three games, and then dropping the last two.  Albany (19-20) enters Tuesday having won five of its last seven games.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE
Tuesday: Fordham – RHP Alvin Melendez (2-1, 2.20) vs. Albany – LHP Connor Takacs (4-0, 2.75) // Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the seventh all-time meeting between Fordham and Albany.  The two teams have split the first six match-ups with Albany winning the first three, and Fordham the last three.  The last meeting was a 7-3 Fordham win in 2017 at Houlihan Park.
 
LAST TIME OUT (4/28): Despite a another career day from Jake Baker, the Fordham Rams fell to the UMass Lowell Riverhawks, 3-2, in ten innings, at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts.
 
UMass Lowell got on the board right away in the first, taking advantage a walk and a hit by pitch in the inning and getting a pair of sacrifice flies by Steve Passatempo and Andrew Roden for a 2-0 lead.
 
After having multiple chances to score in the first five innings, Fordham finally broke through in the sixth, scoring twice to tie the game.  With a runner at second and two outs, Jake Baker continued his hot hitting with a single through the right side to plate Jake Guercio from second.  Baker then stole second and scored on a single by Alvin Melendez to knot the game at two.

 
The Rams would have the potential go-ahead run on base in each of the next four innings into the tenth, but were unable to drive in the run.  The Riverhawks then ended the game in the bottom of the tenth, as Passatempo doubled home Oscar Marchena from second base for the 3-2 walk-off win.
 
For Fordham, Baker posted his second career four-hit game, going 4-for-5 with a stolen base, a run scored, and an RBI, while Melendez was 1-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.  Kyle Martin (2-2) took the loss in relief, posting two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.  Starter Anthony DiMeglio went the first seven innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts, with Anthony Zimmerman pitching a scoreless eighth inning.
 
RAMS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS (4/28): Entering this week, the Fordham Rams currently rank among the top 15 nationally in a number of categories.  Fordham is first in the nation in stolen bases per game at 2.89, as well as in overall in swipes with 133.  The Rams are also 11th in the nation in team ERA with an Atlantic 10-best mark of 3.22, 15^th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.43), 15^th in sacrifice bunts (34), and 13^th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0).  Individually, Jake MacKenzie is fourth in the nation in stolen bases (34) and sixth in triples (6), while John Stankiewicz is sixth in ERA (1.20), 13^th in WHIP (0.87), and 15^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.82).
 
CLOSING IN ON MILESTONES: A number of Rams are closing in on some career milestones in the coming games, and here is a quick look:
 
Career Saves – Kyle Martin – 18 (record is 19 by Bobby Aylmer & Jamie Sammut)
Career Doubles – Justin Bardwell – 53 (record is 55 by Greg Smith)
Career RBI – Justin Bardwell – 114 (six shy of 120 – would be the 13^th Ram to reach mark)
Career Triples – Jake MacKenzie – 12 (Danny Leach is third all-time with 13)
Career Stolen Bases – Jake MacKenzie – 68 (two shy of being the eighth Ram to reach 70)
Career Strikeouts – Anthony DiMeglio – 192 (8 shy of being the ninth Ram to reach 200)
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Fordham baseball team finishes its road swing this weekend, by returning to league action, May 3-5, at George Mason.