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
April 14, 2017 – Just a day after a walk-off home run by Jason Lundy, fans wondered what the Fordham baseball team had in store in game two of its Atlantic 10 series against the Saint Joseph's Hawks at Houlihan Park. The fans were treated to one of the best pitching performances in Fordham baseball history, as
Reiss Knehr struck out a career-high 16 batters in a 5-0 shutout win over the Hawks.
All of the offense in the game came in the bottom of third inning, when Fordham rallied for five runs. Matthew Kozuch started the scoring with an RBI-double for a 1-0 lead. The Rams then loaded the bases with
Justin Bardwell coming through with a two-run single, scoring Kozuch and
Jake Baker. The Rams re-loaded the one batter later, bringing Ryan Mahoney to the plate, who delivered a two-run double to right, capping the five-run inning.
That was plenty was offense for Knehr, as he had a career day, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and had a streak of 11 straight strikeouts against the Hawks. The 11 consecutive strikeouts was the most by a college pitcher since Navy's Luke Gillingham struck out the first 12 batters at North Carolina A&T on February 13, 2015.
The strikeout streak and the no-hit bid ended on a leadoff single by Deon Stafford, Jr. in the seventh, but no damage was done, as Stafford was thrown out at second trying to steal, while Knehr struck out the final two batters of the inning, to keep the game at 5-0. Knehr added one more strikeout in the ninth, before being relieved by
Alvin Melendez, who tacked on two more strikeouts to complete the shutout. In total, Knehr and Melendez combined for 18 strikeouts on the afternoon.
Knehr's 16 strikeouts were the most by a Ram since Jack McQuade struck out 17 in a game against CCNY on April 12, 1956, and tied for the sixth-most in a game by a Ram pitcher with Johnny Murphy, who struck out 16 against Columbia on April 23, 1929. Watch the highlights below:
April 14, 1915 – The Fordham baseball team had a field day against CCNY, posting a 25-1 win at Fordham Field, in just seven innings. The game was literally stolen away by the Rams, as Fordham totaled 20 stolen bases to set a school record that still stands to present day.
The Rams scored in every frame, highlighted by 12 runs in the final frame. James Conway and Tom Viviano were the heavy hitters with four hits and four runs apiece, while the basestealing saw McGovern with a team-best four, with Frank Carroll, Viviano, Jack Berrigan, captain Harry Kane and Kelleher each having multiple.
Bob Collins helped his own cause in the win, as he had two hits, two runs scored, and two steals at the plate, while on the mound, he allowed just one run on three hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts.
