Bronx, N.Y. – (March 25, 2025) – After winning its second Atlantic 10 series of the season, the Fordham baseball team is back on the field on Wednesday for a mid-week game against Wagner at SIUH Community Park on Staten Island.
SCOUTING REPORT: Wagner is 12-10 on the season with a 7-2 mark in the NEC and will face St. John's on Tuesday before the game against Fordham. The Seahawks have won five games in a row after sweeping Coppin State in a three-game league series over the weekend. The team enters the week batting .291 with a 7.98 team ERA. Averaging just over seven runs per game, Wagner is led by Bryce Phelps, who is hitting a team-best .410 with 22 runs scored, seven doubles, and 11 RBI. Matt Sutera is tops on the squad with 16 RBI to go with a .322 average, while Diego Tavarez has three home runs, 15 RBI and a .333 batting average.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Fordham – LHP
Ameer Hasan (1-0, 1.86 ERA) vs. Wagner - TBD
SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday will be the 75
th meeting between Fordham and Wagner with the Rams holding a 53-21 series lead. The Rams have won the last two meetings, including a 10-1 win at Houlihan Park last season. That contest saw Fordham's
Matt Dieguez go 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while
Cian Sahler had two hits and two runs scored.
DOWD NAMED A-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK (3/24): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Monday afternoon with Fordham sophomore pitcher
Aidan Dowd was named the league's Pitcher of the Week. It is Dowd's first career weekly accolade.
Dowd has a career-best outing on Friday afternoon in a 6-0 win over Massachusetts. He pitched six shutout innings against the Minutemen, striking out a career-high eight batters. The team shutout was the first by Fordham since April 8
th, 2023. In six starts this season, Dowd is 2-2 with a 4.45 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 28.1 innings pitched.
WEEKEND RECAP (3/21-23): Fordham won two of three games over Massachusetts on the weekend to improve to 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play.
On Friday,
Aidan Dowd and
Robbie Stewart combined to toss a five-hit shutout, while
Andrew Kanellis and
Matt Dieguez each drove in two runs, as the Rams blanked the Minutemen, 6-0, at Houlihan Park. It was Fordham's third straight win and first shutout since April 8
th, 2023.
Dowd improved to 2-2 on the season, throwing six shutout innings with a career-high eight strikeouts. Stewart earned the save, as he pitched three innings of one-hit relief with a career-high six strikeouts. The 14 team strikeouts were the most since May 10
th, 2024 against VCU.
Saturday saw a walk-off win by the Rams, as
Carson Chavez connected on the game-winning two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to cap an incredible comeback, as Fordham defeated UMass, 10-9.
Trailing 9-6 in the ninth, Fordham's
Tommy Markey opened with a single and moved to second after
Taylor Kirk was hit by a pitch. A walk to Sahler loaded the bases bringing Kanellis to the plate. Kanellis lifted a fly ball to left but fell short of the wall for a sacrifice fly, making it 9-7. After a strikeout, pinch-hitter
Chase Hanawalt drew a walk to reload the bases, while
Matt Dieguez was hit by a pitch to force in a run to put the score at 9-8. Chavez, hitting in place of
Tommy McAndrews, who was injured earlier in the game, came through for the Rams with a two-run double to left, scoring Sahler and Hanawalt for the walk-off 10-9 victory.
The Rams fell short of the series sweep, falling by a 3-2 score in 11 innings on Sunday.
GOIN' STREAKIN': The Rams are 8-4 in their last 12 games, with the pitching staff leading the way with a 3.47 team ERA and a .229 opponent batting average…
Aidan Dowd is 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA and 17 strikeouts in his last three starts…
Chase Hanawalt has a 1.54 ERA in his last four appearances, posting 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings…
Ameer Hasan has a win and a 2.08 ERA in his last two appearances (8.2 innings)…
Andrew Kanellis is hitting .413 (19-46) in his last 12 games with seven runs scored, 13 RBI, and five stolen bases…
Taylor Kirk is batting .362 in his last 12 contests with 14 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.
MEN OF STEAL: The Rams have gotten back into a stealing mode with 57 stolen bases this season, ranking 18
th in the NCAA, entering this week's play, while being 28
th in stolen bases per game (2.33). Fordham has eight players with at least three stolen bases this season, led by
Taylor Kirk with 14 and
Daniel Bucciero at 13.
WHO'S NEXT: Following the Wagner game, Fordham heads to Richmond to take on the Spiders in a three-game conference series, March 28-30.
