Bronx, N.Y. – (February 15, 2024) – The 164th year of Fordham baseball starts this weekend in Winston Salem, North Carolina, as the Rams will face the preseason #1 team in the country, Wake Forest, along with Akron and Illinois in the team's first set of games.
The Rams start year 13 under head coach
Kevin Leighton with a revamped roster and promising young talent, highlighted by 2023 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selections,
Tommy McAndrews and
Daniel Bucciero. The duo combined for 11 home runs and 75 RBI in their first season at Rose Hill, contributing to a power resurgence for Fordham with 56 home runs in 2023, the second-most in team history. Additionally on Thursday, Bucciero was named to the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Watch List. The BBNCSA is based on performance at the plate, academics, and personal integrity.
The Rams do have to replace two of the bigger bats with the departure of First Team All-Atlantic 10 pick
Zach Selinger (.326, 12 HR, 40 RBI) and Second Team All-Atlantic 10 selection
Peter DeMaria (.292, 11 HR, 41 RBI). One player looking to fill in some of that production is UMass transfer
Steve Luttazi, who had a career year in 2023, batting .327 with 33 runs scored, four home runs, and 26 RBI.
Two other newcomers that will be thrown into the mix are graduate transfers
Andrew Kanellis and
Henry Pelinski. Kanellis played parts of four seasons at Vassar College, where he posted a career .354 batting average, 17 home runs, and 97 RBI, while Pelinski, a Third Team Academic All-American in 2023, spent four seasons at Emory University, registering a career .363 batting average with 70 runs scored and 63 RBI.
On the mound, the Rams hope to rebound from a difficult 2023, where injuries played a major factor for the second straight season and shortened the number of available arms. This season, the Rams list 22 pitchers on the roster, led by returning senior
Declan Lavelle. Lavelle started 13 of 15 appearances last season, setting career-highs in innings pitched (55.0) and strikeouts (32).
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday: Fordham – RHP
Declan Lavelle vs. Wake Forest - LHP Josh Hartle
Saturday: Akron – Dawson Tourney vs. Fordham - RHP
Nate Scott
Sunday: Fordham – RHP
Dominic Cunha vs. Illinois - LHP Regan Hall OR RHP Jake Swartz
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams do have history with all three weekend opponents. Fordham is 1-1 against Wake Forest, having lost to the Demon Deacons in 1981, while posting a 5-3 win in 2011.
Fordham is 2-2 against the Akron Zips, recording a pair of wins during the 1998 season and a pair of losses in 1999.
Illinois and Fordham have only met once in 2016, a 7-6 win for Illinois, when they were ranked #26 in the top 30 poll.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: Fordham's first opponent of the weekend is the preseason #1 Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake Forest is coming off a 54-12 season and a trip to the College World Series. The Demon Deacons are the unanimous preseason #1 with multiple players making the preseason All-America teams and four being named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List. One of those players if Friday's starting pitcher, Josh Hartle. A 2023 First Team All-American, Hartle posted an 11-2 record with a 2.81 ERA and 140 strikeouts.
After going 21-34 last season, Akron is under a new head coach Bryan Faulds. Faulds spent the last two seasons as head coach at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, compiling a 72-43 record. Prior to that, he was on their staff as the pitching coach for four seasons. The Zips return their leading hitter from a season ago in Jack Poist, who hit .298 with 13 doubles, three home runs, and 28 RBI.
Illinois was 25-27 in 2023 with a 12-12 mark in the Big Ten, qualifying for the conference championship. The Illini will be led by a trio of preseason players to watch in the Big Ten: pitchers Jack Crowder and Logan Tabeling and outfielder Ryan Moerman. Crowder amassed 35 strikeouts in 42.1 innings of work last season over 17 appearances, while Tabeling made 14 relief appearances with 13 strikeouts over 16.0 innings. Moerman was a 2023 Second Team All-Big Ten selection after hitting .300 with 12 home runs and 44 RBI.
FORDHAM PICKED TENTH IN A-10 PRESEASON COACHES POLL (2/14): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its preseason baseball coaches' poll for the 2024 season with the Fordham Rams picked tenth in the 12-team poll.
Saint Louis was tabbed as the preseason favorite, garnering three first place votes, followed by defending champion George Mason and last season's regular season champion, Saint Joseph's. Davidson, VCU, Dayton, and Rhode Island round of the top seven, as each of the first seven teams in the polls received at least one first place vote.
Daniel Bucciero
RANKED HISTORY: Friday's game against Wake Forest will be the first time that Fordham will face the top team in the nation. Fordham last faced a ranked opponent in the regular season was then-#21 Long Beach State in 2017. The last win over a ranked foe in the regular season was against then-#28 Charlotte in 2011. That season Fordham also knocked off #11 Miami (Fla.).
POWER BATS: The 2023 season saw the return of the long ball back to the Fordham lineup. The team hit 56 home runs which was the second-most in team history, behind only the school record of 83 in 1997. The Rams also scored 313 runs and posted 284 RBI, the most for Fordham since the 2010 season.
HELLO, MY NAME IS…: After welcoming 17 new players in 2023, Fordham has 18 fresh faces on the roster in 2024, which includes five graduate transfers, a senior transfer, a junior, a sophomore transfer, and ten freshmen.
HEY BRO: For the first time since 2012, the Rams will have a brother tandem suiting up in the Maroon and White with graduate student
Jack Clark and sophomore
Sam Clark. Jack transferred to Fordham from Skidmore College, where he was 8-5 with a 4.19 ERA, while Sam is a transfer from UConn, spending one season with the Huskies. The last set of brothers to play on the same team for Fordham were Ryan Maghini and Brendan Maghini in 2012. The team did have the Weissert brothers, Greg (2014-16) and Brian (2017-20), more recently but they were not on the team at the same time.
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams continue the early portion of their schedule, February 23-25, in Deland, Florida. They will once again face three different teams over three days in Army West Point (Feb. 23), Maine (Feb. 24), and host Stetson (Feb. 25).
