Bronx, N.Y. – (April 29, 2024) – The Fordham baseball team starts a string of seven consecutive home games on Tuesday afternoon, when the Rams host the Manhattan Jaspers in the Battle of the Bronx at Houlihan Park.
Fordham (18-24) is coming off another Atlantic 10 series win at Rhode Island, but looks to get the bitter taste out after giving up a walk-off grand slam home run in the series finale. Manhattan (14-27) won two of three games against Quinnipiac over the weekend to keep their MAAC playoff hopes alive.
SERIES HISTORY: The baseball edition of Battle of the Bronx dates bak over 150 years and has been played at a variety of locations, whether it was Fordham Field in the 1890s (now Edwards Parade), Jack Coffey Field, Houlihan Park, Van Cortlandt Park, Clover Stadium, or Yankee Stadium (1923). Fordham has the all-time lead in the series at 85-38-3, however, Manhattan won last year's match-up at Clover Stadium, 13-12, in 13 innings on a walk-off single by Daniel Perez, capping the longest-ever Battle of the Bronx game.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: Manhattan is 14-27 on the year, 7-11 in the MAAC after winning their series with Quinnipiac this weekend. The Jaspers are batting .255 as a team, led by Chase Swain, who is hitting .358 with 25 RBI and 10 stolen bases this season. Daniel Perez is also on fire at .348 with 31 runs scored, and 24 RBI. Trevor Hansen brings the power to the lineup with a team-best eight home runs and 33 RBI. On the mound, Manhattan holds a 5.68 team ERA and is allowing a .276 batting average
LAST TIME OUT (4/28): URI's Rob Butler hit a walk-off grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a furious come-from-behind win for the Rhode Island Rams over the Fordham Rams, 6-4, at Bill Beck Field.
Fordham (18-24, 9-6 A10) opened the scoring in the third inning, as with two on, Andrew Kannelis drove out a three-run home run to right, his fourth of the season.
Rhode Island (14-24, 6-9 A10) scored once in the bottom of the frame on a squeeze bunt single by Reece Moroney, which scored Ryan Henschel from third. Henschel originally reached on a double down the left field line.
The score stayed at 3-1 until the seventh when Fordham added to the lead on an RBI-single by
Chris Genaro, scoring
Steve Luttazi from second to go up, 4-1.
URI though had a final rally in the ninth scoring five times to take the game by a 6-4 final score, capped by Butler's grand slam home run.
The ninth inning comeback spoiled some good pitching by the Fordham Rams over the first eight innings.
Andres Perez allowed one run on three hits over the first three innings, while
Nate Scott recorded four hitless innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.
Connor Haywood added a scoreless eighth inning as well.
Outside of Kanellis' home run and Genaro's RBI-single, the Fordham offense had a tough afternoon with only two other hits.
Daniel Bucciero was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while
Cian Sahler singled in the second inning to bring his hit streak to 19 games.
PROMISING START: After five weeks conference play, the Rams are right in the thik of the Atlantic 10 playoff chase, having won four of their five league series. The team is hitting .304 on conference play and averaging 6.4 runs per game.
Cian Sahler is batting .406 in conference play with 15 RBI, while
Daniel Bucciero is also tearing it up at .348 with 17 runs scored, seven home runs, and 20 RBI.
Ryan Thiesse is seeing the ball well in A-10 play, hitting .333 with 16 runs scored and five stolen bases. On the hill,
Declan Lavelle has been an ace, going 4-1 with a 4.95 ERA in 36.1 innings with 33 strikeouts.
LIGHTIN' IT UP: Cian Sahler is currently on a 19-game hit streak, batting .395 (30-76) over that stretch with 19 RBI…
Daniel Bucciero is hitting .368 in his last 18 games with 19 runs scored, seven doubles, seven home runs, and 20 RBI… Since taking over as the Rams' starting second baseman,
Madden Ocko is hitting .319 over 13 games with five runs scored and five RBI… In his last five starts,
Declan Lavelle is 4-1 with a 4.95 ERA in 36.1 innings with 33 strikeouts…
Aric Berg has two wins and four saves in his last 10 appearances…
Robbie Stewart is 2-0 with a 4.76 ERA in his last five appearances, recording 15 strikeouts in 17 innings…
Gannon Brady is 1-0 in his last eight relief appearances with a 2.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts.
GOIN' STREAKIN': With
Cian Sahler reaching 19 games on his current hitting streak, he has reached some rare air. It is the longest hit streak over the last 36 seasons, where only three other players had a hit streak of at least 16 games – Jason Coules (18 – 2020-21), Mike Marchiano (17 – 107), and John Mollicone (16 – 2007). The school record for the Rams is 21 games, which was reached originally by Bob DiVincenzo in 1977 and then matched by Ray Montgomery in 1988.
RAMSES CHALLENGE: Show your support for Fordham Baseball all season long by signing up for the Ramses Challenge! Whether it's wins, home run hits or strikeouts thrown during the 2024 season, now is the perfect time to give back to the program and its student-athletes. Make your pledge by going to FordhamSports.com/RamsesChallenge.
WHO'S NEXT: Fordham continues its homestand this weekend, May 3-5, with a three-game Atlantic 10 series against the Saint Joseph's Hawks at Houlihan Park.
