Bronx, N.Y. – (March 13, 2025) – The Fordham baseball team opens Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend with a road trip to our nation's capital, as they will face the George Washington Revolutionaries for a three-game series. It will be Fordham's first road series at George Washington since the 2015 season. The Rams did make a visit to the Revolutionaries in 2018, but it was for the Atlantic 10 Championship.
SCOUTING REPORT: George Washington is 8-8 on the season, batting .305 as a team with four players over the .300 mark. Sam Gates leads the team with a .375 batting average to go with 14 runs scored, six doubles, and five stolen bases, while Ellis Schwartz has brought the power with three home runs and 14 RBI to go with a .364 batting average. Cristino Tufano has also hit double-digits with 13 RBI to go alongside four doubles and a .306 average. On the bump, Michael Foltz has won two of his four starts, posting 19 strikeouts in 18.2 innings, while the Revolutionaries have had a dynamic duo out of the bullpen in Cade Davis and Matt Bruno. The two have combined for four wins, two saves, and 12 strikeouts over 22.2 innings.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday - Fordham – RHP
Aidan Dowd ( ERA) vs. George Washington – LHP Michael Foltz (2-2, 5.79 ERA)
Saturday – Fordham – RHP
Mike Rabayda (ERA) vs. George Washington – LHP Teddy Brennan (0-2, 10.91 ERA)
Sunday – Fordham – TBD vs. George Washington - LHP Shugy Klein (0-1, 7.62 ERA)
SERIES HISTORY: The Fordham-George Washington series dates back to 1952, but the vast majority of games have occurred since 1996 when the two teams became conference opponents. The Revolutionaries hold the all-time series lead at 24-19. The last time the teams met was during the 2023 season, when George Washington took two of three games from the Rams. One Ram who had a big series in 2023 was
Cian Sahler, going 5-for-11 (.455) with four RBI
LAST TIME OUT (3/12): Navy's Victor Izquierdo drove in four runs to lead the Midshipmen to an 11-7 win over the Fordham Rams at Houlihan Park on Wednesday afternoon. Navy scored early and often, netting runs in each of the first four innings to go up, 9-0. The Midshipmen scored once in the first and second innings, twice in the fourth, and five times in the fourth.
The Rams got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, as
Matt Dieguez doubled down the left field line and scored on a single by
Andrew Kanellis. Fordham picked up another run in the the sixth inning, as Kanellis doubled to right center, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a
Tommy McAndrews' RBI-double.
After Navy scored twice in the seventh to make it 11-2, the Rams scratched across three runs in the seventh, highlighted by a two-run home run by Kanellis, his second of the season.
Madden Ocko also had an RBI-double in the inning, scoring
Daniel Bucciero, who reached base on a walk.
Fordham closed to within 11-7 in the eighth, netting a pair of runs. After a walk to
Cian Sahler and a single by Bucciero, Ocko connected on a ground-rule double to score Sahler, while Bucciero scored on a ground out by Dieguez. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Rams would get, as Navy's Landon Kruer recorded the final five outs to close out the win.
Jordan Rodarte (0-2) took the loss, allowing three earned runs over the first two innings. At the plate, Kanellis was a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with three RBI, while Ocko was 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Dieguez and McAndrews each had two hits and an RBI with Bucciero going 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
GOIN' STREAKIN': Outfielder
Andrew Kanellis is swinging a hot bat in his last nine games, batting .485 (16-33) with eight runs scored, two home runs, and 10 RBI… Freshman
Taylor Kirk has made an immediate impact at the top of the Rams' lineup, scoring 12 runs with four stolen bases and a .350 batting average (14-40) over the last nine contests…
Madden Ocko has 10 RBI in his last nine games to go with a .371 average (13-35)…
Daniel Bucciero is on a six-game hit streak and over his last nine games is batting .375 (12-32) with four doubles, five RBI, and eight runs scored…
Aidan Dowd is 1-1 in his last two starts with a 1.64 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 11 innings…
Mike Rabayda also has 11 strikeouts over his last two starts, allowing just a .179 batting average.
WELCOME BACK!: Fordham welcomed back a pair of Rams last week from injury in
Tommy McAndrews and
Cian Sahler. McAndrews missed the first 11 games of the season and had a solid first week back, batting .353 in five games with four RBI. Sahler, who missed eight games, returned to the lineup on Saturday with a career-best performance at Army, going 4-for-6 with two doubles and a career-high seven RBI.
WHO'S NEXT: Following this weekend, the Rams return home for a mid-week game against Maine on Tuesday, March 18
th at 1:00 PM.
