On This Date: Baseball Doubles Down at Iona; Leads to 1978 Metropolitan Championship

With the 2020 spring sports season canceled by the COVID-19 outbreak, we at Fordham have decided to dig back through our archives and provide our fans with content on some of the outstanding teams and student-athletes who have graced Rose Hill over the years
 
March 30, 1978 – The Fordham Rams connected on a school record nine doubles leading to a 7-4 win over the Iona Gaels in baseball action in New Rochelle, N.Y.
 
With the score tied at four through eight innings, the Rams scored three times in the ninth inning to get the win, highlighted by RBI-doubles from Mike Bird and Mark Pleto.  Pleto finished the game with three hits, while Bob Cole earned the win in relief of starter Matt Olli.
 
"We always played Iona well and had a lot of success against the Gaels," said Pleto as he remembered.  "The field up there in New Rochelle had a short right field fence which anything hit over it was a ground rule double."
 
Needless to say, the Rams took advantage of the short porch.
"I have many great memories playing there, mainly because we won more often than not," said Bird, one of the late-inning heroes.  "While I personally had some good games there, it was always a team effort."
 
The win evened Fordham's early season record, while getting Metropolitan Conference play out to a 1-0 start.  By season's end, the 1978 Rams put together one of the finest seasons in team history.
 
"It was a very special team, where everyone contributed from 1-to-25," said Fred Opper, who was a sophomore on the team. "There were a number of Hall of Famers on the squad, but more than anything just an amazing group of guys."

 
A total of six members of the 1978 Fordham baseball team currently reside in the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame, including Pleto, Opper, Cole, team captain Rick Buoncore, head coach Jack Lyons, and athletic trainer Jim "The Fox" Wilson.
 
"It was a great mix of guys from different classes, coming together and finding a way," said Buoncore about the team.  "We had strong upperclassmen, learning from Gil McDougal, and then playing for Jack Lyons.  Jack treated us like we were all his sons and family, which has helped us stay as close to each other then as we are today."
 
"The 1978 team was one that could have a bad day and still win.  We were loaded with talent.  Someone would always step up and help us win," said Pleto. 
 
The Rams would go on to win the 1978 Metropolitan Championship, Fordham's first MET title in 36 years (1942).  The team also reached the 30-win plateau for the first time in the modern era (after 1920), reaching the ECAC playoffs and falling just shy of an NCAA berth.
 
"That was a very special team," said Bird. "I have had the opportunity to play with many gifted players and teams over the years, but the Fordham 1978 team was probably the best. We had many exceptional players but always played as a team, and are still very close to one another.  I loved my time at Fordham and am grateful for the everlasting memories, friendships, wins and losses that we shared."