On This Date: Baseball Defeats Connecticut at 1993 NCAA Regional

On This Date Presented by Belmont Realty
 
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
 
May 29, 1993 – Photo Gallery - For the fourth time in a seven-year span, the Fordham baseball team claimed a spot in the NCAA Championship, after taking home the Patriot League and ECAC Championships.
 
First, Fordham faced Navy in the Patriot League Championship series at Jack Coffey Field, where the Midshipmen took game one by an 11-1 score.  The Rams rebounded to take game two with an 8-5 victory, forcing a winner-take-all game.  Fordham took that contest by a 6-2 score, advancing to the ECAC Championship with Joe Schultz being named the Patriot League Championship Most Outstanding Player.
 
The ECAC Championship opened with three straight wins for the Rams over CW Post, St. Francis (NY), and LeMoyne, earning Fordham a spot in the title game against LeMoyne.  After a game one loss forced another winner-take-all game, Fordham rebounded to win a shootout 15-14 to earn the NCAA bid.
 
Fordham was put in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma, along with N.C. State, Connecticut, Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Auburn.  The Rams' opening game saw Fordham fall to top-seeded N.C. State by a 12-4 score.  The Rams rebounded from that loss to defeat fifth-seeded Connecticut, 5-0.  Fordham's regional stay then ended in the next game with an 18-7 loss to Arizona.

 
The 1993 team finished with a record of 32-27 and saw seven players earn All-Patriot League honors, led by Schultz, who was a First Team selection at designated hitter, as well as a First Team All-Region pick.  He hit .367 with 38 runs scored, 14 doubles, four triples, four home runs, and 44 RBI.  Joining Schultz on the All-Patriot League First Team was outfield Mike Butler and pitchers Bill Conkling and Joe Mackey, while Henry Toolan, Tom Caldara, and Jerry Geigle were Second Team selections.
 
Butler, who was also a Second Team All-Region pick, batted .320 with 44 runs scored, 11 doubles, seven triples, four home runs, and a team-best 50 RBI.  Conkling earned his spot as a starting pitcher, posting an 8-3 record with a 3.16 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 77.0 innings pitched.  Mackey was a relief pitcher selection, going 6-2 in 19 appearances with a 2.89 ERA ad 56 strikeouts in 65.1 innings.
 
Caldara (.311) and Geigle (.304) both batted over .300 with over 25 runs scored and 30 RBI to earn their spot on the All-Patriot League team, while Toolan was 5-3 with a 3.54 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 68.2 innings.
 
Other significant contributors included Shawn Harris, who scored a then-school record 64 runs, while adding 45 stolen bases, which is fourth all-time at Fordham for a single season.  Mike Scavetta and Alex Tejera both registered over 25 runs scored and combined for 24 of the 124 team stolen bases in 1993, which was the second most by the Rams at that time, while Vince DiGrandi collected 40 RBI.
 
On the hill, Ramon Hernandez and J.C. Jones each recorded four victories, while Charlie Cucchiara had a 2-1 mark in 18 relief appearances with a 3.48 ERA.