Bronx, N.Y. – (February 13, 2025) – The 165th year of Fordham baseball starts this weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, as the Rams will travel to #13 N.C. State for a three-game series at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Due to the weather forecast, the series has been adjusted to an 11:00 AM doubleheader on Friday with a single game on Saturday at 2:00 PM.
With an influx of 17 new players to the squad, the Rams have reshaped the roster in search of their first winning season since 2021. Even with all the new faces, there is a good amount of experience in the 2025 lineup, led by Second Team All-Atlantic 10 third baseman
Daniel Bucciero and outfielder
Cian Sahler.
Bucciero ranked 42
nd among third basemen in the D1Baseball.com's preseason rankings after a stellar campaign for the Rams last year. He batted .310 for the season, setting career-highs in doubles (15), home runs (9), RBI (36), and stolen bases (17). He also led the Rams with 19 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI contests. In league play, Bucciero was a dominant force, hitting .374 with 23 runs scored, seven doubles, nine home runs, 26 RBI, and 10 stolen bases.
Sahler hit a career-best and team leading .323 in 2024 to go with 20 runs scored, six doubles, a home run, and six stolen bases. He also collected a career-high 32 RBI and registered a school record 22-game hitting streak, breaking the mark of 21 games set by Bob DiVencenzo (1977) and Ray Montgomery (1988).
On the mound, junior
Aric Berg moves into a weekend starting role, after serving as the Rams' go-to bullpen arm in 2024, where he recorded five wins and five saves in 25 appearances. He racked up over a strikeouts per inning with 52 in 48.0 innings to go with a .240 opponent batting average. Sophomore
Aidan Dowd is back for his second season in the weekend rotation, having earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team a year ago. He led the Rams with a 3.77 ERA in 14 starts to go with 49 strikeouts and a .227 opponent batting average. Graduate transfer
Mike Rabayda is slated to join the weekend rotation from Haverford College, where he was the 2024 Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Year and a Second Team All-Region 5 selection. He recorded seven wins, a 3.41 ERA, and 79 strikeouts, leading the Centennial Conference in wins and strikeouts.
Heading up the bullpen are a pair of senior relievers in
Connor Haywood and
Gannon Brady, who both made over 20 appearances last season. Haywood registered 28 strikeouts in 25.2 innings with a .212 opponent batting average, while Brady picked up two relief wins in 22 appearances with 18 strikeouts.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday (G1): Fordham – RHP
Aric Berg vs. N.C. State - LHP Dominic Fritton
Friday (G2): Fordham – RHP
Aidan Dowd vs. N.C. State – RHP Heath Andrews
Saturday: Fordham – RHP
Mike Rabayda vs. N.C. State – LHP Ryan Marohn
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams and Wolfpack have only met once previously at the 1993 NCAA Midwest Regional, where N.C. State took a 12-4 decision from Fordham.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK: The Wolfpack enters the 2025 season at #13 in the preseason top 25 poll after going 38-23 in 2024 and reaching the College World Series. Similar to Fordham, they also have a large number of newcomers at 20 (10 freshmen, 10 graduate students) to go with 19 returnees. N.C. State is led by head coach Elliot Avent in his 29
th season in Raleigh with a record of 1,036-615 at the school. Elliot is the fifth active Division I head coach with 1,000 wins at one school.
FORDHAM PICKED 11TH IN A-10 PRESEASON COACHES POLL (2/12): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its preseason baseball coaches' poll for the 2025 season with the Fordham Rams picked 11th in the 12-team poll.
VCU and Richmond are the preseason coaches' favorites in the Atlantic 10, along with Saint Louis, as VCU and Richmond tied with a 125-point total with Saint Louis at 124. George Washingotn was picked fourth, followed by Davidson, Dayton, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's, George Mason, Massachusetts, Fordham, and St. Bonaventure.
RANKED HISTORY: For the second straight season, Fordham will open the season with a preseason ranked opponent in #13 N.C.State. Last season, the Rams begin the year with a loss to then-#1 Wake Forest. 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.).
HELLO, MY NAME IS…: After welcoming 17 new players in 2023 and 18 in 2024, Fordham has 17 newcomers on the 2025 squad, headed up by five graduate transfers and 12 freshmen.
MORE SCHEDULE UPDATES: The Fordham-Iona baseball game scheduled for February 19
th has been moved to February 26
th.
WHO'S NEXT: Following this weekend, the Rams will return to North Carolina next weekend for four games at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, from February 21-23. Fordham will play Harvard (Feb. 21), Indiana (Feb. 22), and Northwestern (Feb. 22 & Feb. 23).
