Baseball Travels to Massachusetts For Three-Game Set

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 7, 2022) – Week two of Atlantic 10 baseball action gets started on Friday, as the Fordham Rams visit the Massachusetts Minutemen in Amherst to start a three-game series at Earl Lorden Field.
 
Fordham (6-19, 1-2 A10) heads into the weekend looking to get back on track after a mid-week setback to Siena, while Massachusetts (11-9-1, 2-1 A10) heads into the weekend after pounding out 49 runs in a series win over Saint Joseph's last weekend and was followed by a mid-week win over Harvard.

PROBABLE STARTERS/GAME COVERAGE:
Friday: Fordham – RHP Cameron Knox (2-1) vs. Massachusetts – LHP Kevin Dow (4-1) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Saturday: Fordham – RHP Brooks Ey (1-4) vs. Massachusetts – RHP Tyler Dalton (0-0) // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
Sunday: Fordham – RHP Cory Wall (0-1) vs. Massachusetts – LHP Daniel Livnat (1-1) // Live Stats | Twitter - @FordhamBaseball
 
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: Massachusetts enters the weekend with a .273 team batting average, while averaging 7.5 runs per contest.  The Minutemen are led by Cole Hebble, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week and National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball.  Hebble is hitting a team-best .392 with 24 runs scored, 10 doubles, three home runs, and 17 RBI.  The Minutemen also have some power with Drew DeMartino having five home runs and 24 RBI.  On the hill, Kevin Dow is 4-1 in five starts, posting a 4.44 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 24.1 innings, while Daniel Livat is 1-1 with a 3.20 ERA in just over 25 innings pitched.  Jack Pawloski has been solid in eight relief appearances, recording a 1.00 ERA and two saves with 13 strikeouts.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams and Minutemen have battled plenty of times as members of the Atlantic 10.  Fordham has the slightest of edges at 32-31-1 in 64 all-time meetings.  Last year, the two teams had a series split with each team winning twice during the four-game set.  The Rams capped the series with an 11-1 win in eight innings behind a three-RBI day from Chris Genaro and six strong innings from Gabe Karslo.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Siena's Alex Milone drove in three runs, while Matt Livingston had a home run and two RBI, as the Saints knocked off the Fordham Rams, 12-7, at Connors Park in Loudonville, N.Y.
 
After Siena scored twice in the first on a Fordham error, the Rams tallied four runs in the top of the second for a 4-2 lead.  Fordham loaded the bases on a double by Sebastian Mexico and walks to Jason Coules and Cian Sahler.  Casey Brown then walked to force in a run, which was followed by a two-run double by Diego Prieto.  C.J. Vazquez then closed the rallied with a sacrifice fly to left to score Brown from third.
 
Siena got a run back in the bottom of the inning to make it, 4-3, before scoring five times in the bottom of the fourth for an 8-4 lead.  The inning was highlighted by a two-run single by Alex Milone ad RBI-doubles by Randall Hien and Devan Kruzinski.
 
The Saints extended their lead to 9-4 in the fifth, before Fordham start chipping away at the lead, scoring twice in the sixth on back-to-back RBI-singles by C.J. Vazquez and Jack Harnisch, and once in the seventh on a solo home run to right by Cian Sahler, his first career home run to make it a 9-7 game.
 
Siena got those three runs back in the bottom of the eighth for a 12-7 lead, highlighted by Matt Livingston's third home run of the season, a solo shot to right center.
 
Fordham's Robbie Stewart (0-2) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits over 3.1 innings of work, while Connor Haywood gave up two earned over 2.2 innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.  At the plate, Sahler was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a home run with Prieto going 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.  Vazquez also drove in a pair of runs in the contest with Brown reaching base on three walks and scoring twice.
 
HEATING UP: Sebastian Mexico is on a six-game hitting streak, hitting .333 (8-24) over that stretch with three doubles, three runs scored, and two RBI… Jack Harnisch has reached base in 21 consecutive games, posting a .426 on-base percentage in that span… Cian Sahler is hitting .400 (12-30) with a home run and eight RBI in his last nine games… Zach Selinger is batting .341 (14-41) in the last 12 games with four doubles, a home run, and seven RBI… Ben Kovel has a 0.93 ERA in his last seven appearances to go with a win and two saves out of the bullpen… Brooks Ey is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA and 23 strikeouts in his last three starts… Gabe Karslo has a 1.98 ERA in his last three appearances with 15 strikeouts in 13.2 innings of work.
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams will next be in action on Tuesday, April 12^th, when the Rams travel to Columbia for a 3:30 PM game.