Baseball Travels to St. Bonaventure for Final A-10 Series

Bronx, N.Y. – (May 19, 2021) – The Fordham baseball team will be on the road for their final Atlantic 10 series of the regular season, as the Rams head to St. Bonaventure for a four-game set starting on Thursday.
 
Fordham (21-18, 8-8 A-10) is still alive for a berth at next week's Atlantic 10 Championship, but the Rams will need a series win over the Bonnies, while getting help to leapfrog both Rhode Island and Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 North Division standings.    
 
St. Bonaventure (6-21, 5-11 A-10) will look to spoil the Rams' chances in their final home series, led by starting pitcher Donovan Moffat, who has a team-best three wins and five complete games.  The Bonnies will have to dust off a bit, as the team has not played since May 9^th, as their series with Massachusetts last weekend was cancelled.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Thursday: Fordham – RHP Brooks Ey (0-4, 4.28 ERA) vs. St. Bonaventure – LHP Liam Devine (2-3, 8.13 ERA) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Friday (G1): Fordham – LHP Matt Mikulski (8-0, 1.47 ERA) vs. St. Bonaventure – RHP Elijah Baez (1-7, 5.31 ERA) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Friday (G2): Fordham – RHP Gabe Karslo (4-2, 3.92 ERA) vs. St. Bonaventure – RHP Andrew White (0-4, 8.03 ERA) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday: Fordham – LHP Garrett Crowley (3-4, 5.77 ERA) vs. St. Bonaventure – LHP Donovan Moffat (3-4, 5.01 ERA) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams and Bonnies have already played a four-game series against each other this season with Fordham winning three of four games back on April 9-11.  Fordham now leads the all-time series, 41-28.
 
LAST TIME OUT (5/16): La Salle's Gabe Rappa tossed seven innings of six-hit ball, while Tatem Levins had three hits and two RBI, as the Explorers topped the Fordham Rams, 9-5, at Houlihan Park.
 
La Salle (32-17, 15-5 A-10) got out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning and then doubled it to 6-0 in the fourth.

 
Fordham (21-18, 8-8 A-10) cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs to make it, 6-2.  Jason Coules led off with a walk and moved to third on a double by Nick Labella.  Andy Semo plated Coules with a sacrifice fly to left, while Labella scored on a double to left center by Zach Selinger.
 
The Explorers extended the lead to seven at 9-2 in the eighth, netting three runs in the frame.
 
The Rams then rallied in the eighth to get the tying run to the plate.  The inning started with a walk to Alvin Melendez, and one out later, saw Labella crank a two-run home run to left center, his second of the season.  Andy Semo then reached second on a single and a wild pitch.  Pinch-hitter Trey Maeker then lined a single off the first baseman glove to score Semo and make it, 9-5.
 
Eventually, Fordham loaded the bases later in the frame on a single by Colton Snelling and a walk to C.J. Vazquez.  La Salle reliever Joe Messina though held the rally there, as he struck out pinch-hitter Casey Brown to end the rally, as the Explorers went on to finish the win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
 
Garrett Crowley (3-4) took the loss, allowing six runs on five hits over 3.2 innings of work.  Declan Lavelle pitched well out of the bullpen, tossing 3.1 innings of two-hit relief with five strikeouts.  At the plate, Vazquez was 3-for-4 with a triple, while Labella was 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, and two RBI with Snelling also having a pair of hits.
 
MIKULSKI CONTINUES TO IMPRESS: Heading toward the end of the regular season, Fordham senior Matt Mikulski looks to complete one of the best single seasons in program history.  Already a four-time Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week, he is on both the Golden Spikes Award and National Pitcher of the Year Watch Lists and has climbed up the Fordham record book to possibly set some new marks.

On the year, Mikulski is 8-0 with a 1.47 ERA in 61.1 innings with a career-high 112 strikeouts.  Through games played on May 18^th, he currently leads the NCAA and Atlantic 10 in strikeouts per nine innings at 16.43 and hits allowed per nine innings (3.82).  He is also fifth in the NCAA in overall strikeouts, seventh in ERA, and fifth in WHIP (0.83).
 
On record book watch, the 112 strikeouts by Mikulski is now second, only trailing Hank Borowy's school record mark of 115 in 1939.  He is also chasing Javier Martinez's career strikeout mark of 264 (2004-07) with 260 to date.  Additionally, Mikulski became the 11^th Ram to reach 20 career wins on May 15^th with his win over La Salle.
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams will see how things play out this weekend, to see if the team is in the Atlantic 10 Championship, which is set to be played, May 27-29.