Game Notes
Bronx, N.Y. – (February 17, 2022) – The Fordham baseball team will open its 162nd year of play this weekend in College Station, as the Rams meet up with the Texas A&M Aggies at Blue Bell Park.
This is the second time in four seasons that the Rams will start the year at Blue Bell Park, as Fordham opened the 2019 campaign in College Station. Though the Rams were swept in the series, Fordham hopes to repeat the final results of the season, which ended with the team's second Atlantic 10 Championship and an NCAA Regional appearance.
Fordham looks to improve on a 2021 season that saw plenty of turmoil in the schedule due to the pandemic. The Rams ended the year with a 24-19 record and an 11-9 Atlantic 10 mark, which was not good enough to make the abbreviated conference tournament.
For 2022, the Rams will have some new talent at the top of the rotation with graduation of unanimous All-American
Matt Mikulski, who ended last season with one of the greatest pitching seasons by a Ram in team history and was then drafted in the second round by the San Francisco Giants.
Brooks Ey
Returning to the rotation this year are senior Gabe Karlso and sophomore
Brooks Ey. Karslo moved into the weekend rotation and was a quality arm, recording four wins, while Ey threw over 50 innings in his first year as a starter.
The lineup brings back plenty of experience with six returning starters, led by senior outfielders
Jason Coules (.297, 29 runs, 22 SB) and
Jake Guercio (.299, 22 runs), as well as infielders
C.J. Vazquez (.312, 23 runs),
Zach Selinger, (.293, 22 runs, 26 RBI) and
Jack Harnisch (.269, 13 RBI).
PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Friday: Fordham – RHP
Gabe Karslo vs. Texas A&M - RHP Nathan Dettmer //
Live Video (SEC Network+) |
Live Audio (12thMan.com) |
Live Stats |
Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
Saturday: Fordham - RHP
Brooks Ey vs. Texas A&M - RHP Micah Dallas //
Live Video (SEC Network+) |
Live Audio (12thMan.com) |
Live Stats |
Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
Sunday: Fordham - TBA vs. Texas A&M – LHP Ryan Prager //
Live Video (SEC Network+) |
Live Audio (12thMan.com) |
Live Stats |
Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
SERIES HISTORY: Fordham is 0-4 all-time against Texas A&M with all four matchups coming in 2019. The first three games were a three-game set at Blue Bell Park to open the 2019 season, while the final game was at the NCAA Morgantown Regional, where the Aggies eliminated the Rams with an 11-2 score.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: Texas A&M enters a new year after going 29-27 in 2021 with a 9-21 mark in the SEC. The Aggies will have a revamped team with 21 newcomers joining 14 returnees, as well as a new head coach in Jim Schlossnagle, who spent the last 18 seasons at TCU and is a two-time National Coach of the Year.
Among the returnees, Austin Bost had a successful campaign last season, batting .303 with 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and 39 RBI, along with Logan Britt, who hit .270 with 20 RBI. On the mound, Nathan Dettmer returns for the opening day start after going 3-2 with a 4.37 ERA and 49 strikeouts last season.
HOULIHAN PARK TO HOST 2022 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP: For the fifth time, Fordham University's Houlihan Park will play host to the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2022. The Championship will take place May 24-28. Previously, Houlihan Park hosted the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2006, 2012, 2016, and 2019. The Rams hope to repeat the most recent result in 2019, when Fordham captured the league crown for the first time since 1998.
FORDHAM PICKED SIXTH IN A-10 PRESEASON COACHES POLL (2/15): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its preseason baseball coaches' poll for the 2022 season with the Fordham Rams picked sixth in the 12-team poll. VCU earned the top spot with 11 first place votes, followed by Dayton, who was the only other team to receive a first-place vote. Rhode Island was listed third, followed by Saint Louis, Davidson, Fordham, and George Washington to round out the top seven. The remaining teams in the poll were Richmond, Saint Joseph's, George Mason, Massachusetts, and St. Bonaventure.
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday, February 23
rd, when they host Sacred Heart at Houlihan Park for a 3:00 PM start. Fordham will then get back on the road for a three-game series at Virginia Tech, February 25-27.
