Bronx, N.Y. – (February 22, 2024) – After a tough opening weekend with losses to #1 Wake Forest, Akron, and Illinois, the Fordham baseball team has its second-round robin weekend at Stetson in Deland, Florida.
Fordham (0-3) opens the weekend against Army West Point on Friday at noon, followed by a Saturday game against Maine, also at noon. Action wraps up on Sunday against host school Stetson at 1:30 PM.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday: Army - RHP Matthew Ronnebaum (0-0) vs. Fordham - RHP
Declan Lavelle (0-1)
Saturday: Fordham - RHP
Nate Scott (0-0) vs. Maine - RHP Jason Kreiger (0-0)
Sunday: Fordham - RHP
Dominic Cunha (0-1) at Stetson - LHP Daniel Paret (0-0)
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams have history with all three weekend opponents. Fordham and Army West Point have a long history dating to the early 1900s. Since 1902, Fordham is 49-46-1 against the Black Knights. The two teams saw last year's game washed out. Prior to that, Army West Point grabbed two wins in three meetings in 2021.
Fordham and Maine have played each other 16 times with a number of those games coming in the ECAC Championships in 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1991. The series is tied at eight games apiece with the last meeting being a 3-2 Fordham win in 2012 at Seton Hall.
The Rams are 0-2 against Stetson with both of those games coming early in the 1999 season.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: Fordham's first opponent of the weekend is Army West Point, who the Rams will play two more times later in the season. The Black Knights are 2-2 in the young season with two wins over Monmouth and two losses to Penn State. They are led by Sam Ruta, who had an outstanding opening weekend, going 9-for-18 with six runs scored, three home runs, and nine RBI. On the hill, Matthew Ronnebaum is the slated starter. He received a no-decision last weekend against Monmouth, allowing one earned run on five hits over 6.2 innings.
Like Fordham, Maine is 0-3 in 2024, after being swept by Pitt in a three-game series. Offensively, Zach Martin posted five hits and four RBI in the Pitt series with Jake Marquez notching four hits and five runs scored. Jason Kreiger is the projected starter for the Black Bears on the mound. He allowed one run on three hits in five innings in a no-decision against Pitt.
Stetson is 2-2 thus far, as the Hatters split a four-game series with West Virginia. At the plate, Kyle Jones and Gio Cueto each had five hits and two doubles in that series with Cueto adding five RBI. Daniel Paret is the projected starter for Stetson. He gave up two earned runs on six hits over six innings in his opening contest against West Virginia.
TEAM CAPTAINS: The captains for the 2024 Fordham baseball team are seniors
Ryan Thiesse and
Trey Maeker, junior
Connor Haywood, and sophomore
Tommy McAndrews.
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 power surge has continued into 2024, as Fordham hit three home runs on opening weekend.
Steve Luttazi hit a pair of home runs in his first series as a Ram, while
Andrew Kanellis also had one in his debut weekend.
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 will next be in action on Wednesday, February 28
th, when they host Saint Peter's for the 2024 home opener at Houlihan Park before heading to Wofford for a three-game series, March 1-3.
