Bronx, N.Y. – (April 4, 2024) – After being rained out on Tuesday, the Fordham Rams are back at Houlihan Park this weekend for a three-game Atlantic 10 baseball series with the Richmond Spiders. Friday is set for a 3:00 PM start with Saturday at 1:00 PM and Sunday at noon.
Fordham (9-18, 1-2 A10) came away with one win in the conference opening series at Dayton, which could have easily been two if not for an extra-inning home run in the series finale. Richmond (12-16, 2-1 A10) opened Atlantic 10 play with a series win over George Mason, picking up victories in games one and two of the set.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday – Richmond – RHP Kyle Roche (2-4, 2.53 ERA) vs. Fordham – RHP
Declan Lavelle (3-3, 3.69 ERA)
Saturday – Richmond – LHP Brian Reinke (0-4, 5.90 ERA) vs. Fordham – RHP
Aidan Dowd (1-1, 0.93 ERA)
Sunday – Richmond – RHP Esteban Rodriguez (2-1, 6.42 ERA) vs. Fordham – TBD
SERIES HISTORY: Fordham and Richmond have met 41 times in their series history with the Spiders holding a 23-18 edge. The teams met last season in Richmond with the Spiders taking two of three games in a home run derby series that saw 16 combined home runs. Fordham hit nine round-trippers in that series with Richmond having seven. The last game at Houlihan Park between the two school was at the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship, when Fordham pulled out a 7-6 extra inning win, while the last series at Houlihan Park came in 2018.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: The Spiders are 12-16 on the year with a 2-1 mark in the Atlantic 10 after taking two of three games from George Mason. Richmond is batting .276 batting average as a team with Phil Berstein and Jake Topolski leading the offensive attack. Bernstein has a team-high batting average of .321 with eight doubles and 26 RBI, while Topolski is hitting .308 on the year with five doubles, five home runs, and 26 RBI. On the mound, Kyle Roche is at the top of the rotation with a 2.53 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 42.2 innings, while Cole Hentschel has been the top reliever, recording three saves and 21 strikeouts in 12.2 innings.
LAST TIME OUT (3/31): Dayton's Mason Dobie hit a walk-off solo home run in the top of the tenth inning to give the Flyers a 6-5 win over the Fordham Rams at Woerner Field.
Dayton opened the scoring in the first, as the Flyers loaded the bases and scored a run on a double play.
The score stayed that way until the seventh, when Fordham's
Tommy McAndrews delivered a two-run double to right center for a 2-1 Rams' lead. Dayton answered with a two-run home run by Nolan Watson to re-take a 3-2 advantage.
In the eighth, Fordham responded again, grabbing a 4-3 lead on a two-run home run by
Daniel Bucciero, his second home run of the season. The lead switched again in the bottom of the frame on back-to-back RBI-singles, putting the Flyers back on top, 5-4.
The Rams did not go away, tying the game at five in the ninth. With one on and one out,
Nico Boza singled to center, moving pinch runner
Matt Dieguez to second base.
Chris Genaro then singled through the right side to score Dieguez and tie the game at five, forcing the game into extra innings. Unfortunately for the Rams with one out in the bottom of the tenth, Mason Dobie hit a solo home run to right center, lifting Dayton to the 6-5 win.
Fordham's
Aric Berg (3-3) was the hard luck loser, pitching 4.1 innings of relief with four strikeouts.
Aidan Dowd went the first five innings, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts. At the plate,
Steve Luttazi was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored, while
Cian Sahler, Boza, and Genaro each had two hits in the game.
PROMISING START: The opening conference series at Dayton was a good one for the Rams, hitting .342 as a team and averaging 7.7 runs per game. Four players hit .400 or better in the series including
Cian Sahler (.462),
Chris Genaro (.455, 4 runs, 3 RBI),
Ryan Thiesse (.438, 3 runs, 2 RBI),
Daniel Bucciero (.400, 4 runs, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 5 RBI). Three additional Rams batted over .300 for the weekend (
Nico Boza - .364,
Andrew Kanellis - .357,
Steve Luttazi - .308). In Friday's win at Dayton,
Declan Lavelle earned the victory with a career-best seven innings pitched, allowing two runs with four strikeouts.
LIGHTIN' IT UP: Over the last 14 games,
Cian Sahler is hitting .388 with eight runs scored and 11 RBI, while
Chris Genaro is batting .378 with nine runs scored, five extra-base hits, and 11 RBI…
Daniel Bucciero has 11 RBI in his last 14 contests with
Andrew Kanellis and
Nico Boza posting 10 RBI each… In his last four starts,
Aidan Dowd has a 0.60 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 15 innings, allowing a .135 batting average…
Declan Lavelle has wins in two of his last three starts, recording 14 strikeouts in 18 innings on the mound.
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: After this weekend, Fordham hits the road next week for four road contests. The Rams will be at Columbia on Wednesday, April 10
th, while traveling to Massachusetts for a three-game league series, April 12-14.
