Baseball Hosts UMass for Four-Game Set This Weekend

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 29, 2021) – The Fordham baseball team will continue Atlantic 10 play this weekend, when the Rams host the Massachusetts Minutemen at Houlihan Park for a four-game series.
 
It is another crucial series for Fordham (18-12, 5-3 A-10) with only three conference series remaining on the schedule.  The Rams are tied with Rhode Island for third in the Atlantic 10's North Division, behind La Salle and Saint Joseph's.  Massachusetts currently sits in last in the North Division at 1-11 with a 10-24 overall record.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Friday: Fordham – RHP Brooks Ey (0-3, 4.91 ERA) vs. UMass – LHP Kevin Dow (1-2, 6.29 ERA) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday (G1): Fordham – LHP Matt Mikulski (6-0, 0.92 ERA) vs. UMass – RHP Jack Steele (3-5, 6.34 ERA) // Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday (G2): Fordham – LHP Garrett Crowley (3-2, 4.86 ERA) vs. UMass – LHP Zack Given (1-3, 5.06 ERA) // Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Sunday: Fordham – RHP Gabe Karslo (3-1, 2.97 ERA) vs. UMass – RHP Tyler Dalton (0-3, 10.06 ERA) // Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams and Minutemen have a 25-year series history, dating back to 1996, and it's pretty even.  Fordham holds a slight edge at 29-27-1 in the series with the Rams winning the last five overall meetings.  The last meetings between the teams came in 2018, when the Rams swept a three-game set up in Amherst.
 
LAST TIME OUT (4/25): Behind a stellar performance on the mound by Gabe Karslo, the Fordham Rams got a series split with the Saint Joseph's Hawks, winning Sunday's game by a 3-2 final in 10 innings at Smithson Field in Philadelphia.
 
Fordham opened the scoring right away in the first inning, as Jason Coules was hit a by pitch, stole second, and scored on a double down the left field line by Alvin Melendez.  The Rams made it 2-0 in the fifth, taking advantage of a Hawks' error.  Casey Brown reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.  Brown then moved to third on a Coules single and scored on a passed ball.

 
The score stay at 2-0 because of an outstanding performance from Gabe Karslo, who kept Saint Joseph's off the scoreboard, heading into the ninth.  In the final frame, the Hawks were able to crack through Karslo, cutting the deficit in half on a one-out RBI-single by Langston Livingston, leaving runners at the corners. Joseph Quintal came in to relieve Karslo but gave up a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two and force the game into extra innings.
 
In extras this season, the conference allows a runner to be placed at second, so Coules, who made the last out of the ninth, was put at second to start the tenth for Fordham.  After a strikeout and a walk, Coules and Nick Labella advanced a base on a wild pitch with Coules scoring on a ground out to second for a 3-2 lead.
 
In the bottom of the tenth, the Hawks got their runner to third with one out, but Jack Harnisch was able to quickly snag a ball to second and hold the runner for the second out.  Quintal then struck out the final batter to win the game for the Rams.
 
Quintal recorded the win to improve to 2-0, recording two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief of Karslo.  Karslo ended up with two runs allowed on six hits with four strikeouts over a career-best 8.1 innings.  At the plate, Coules was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases to lead the Ram offense.
 
MIKULSKI EARNS ANOTHER SET OF WEEKLY ACCOLADES (4/19): The awards continue to pile up for Fordham baseball senior pitcher Matt Mikulski, who once again was among the National Players of the Week this week, as selected by Collegiate Baseball.  It is the second time this season that he has been listed.  Mikulski also earned his fourth Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week award today as well.
 
Mikulski had another excellent start on Saturday against Saint Joseph's, improving to 6-0 on the season.  He tossed a seven-inning complete game win, allowing just two hits, while striking out 15 batters.  It was his fifth double-digit strikeout performance of the year.  Mikulski did however see his scoreless innings streak end at 26.0 innings, as he allowed a run in the game.

On the year, Mikulski is 6-0 with a 0.92 ERA in 48.2 innings with a career-high 91 strikeouts.  Through games played on April 25^th, he currently leads the NCAA and Atlantic 10 in ERA, while being the conference leader in hits allowed per nine innings (3.33 – 2^nd nationally), strikeouts (T-2^nd nationally), strikeouts per nine innings (16.83 – 2^nd nationally), and WHIP (0.76 – 5^th nationally).
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday, May 5^th, when the team hosts Army West Point for the third and final contest between the two teams this year.  Each team has won their respective home games in the first two outings.