Bronx, N.Y. – (March 27, 2025) – The Fordham baseball team continues conference play this weekend, as the Rams travel to Richmond to meet the Spiders for a three-game series at Pitt Field. The Rams enter the series at 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play after winning its first two series against George Washington and Massachusetts, while Richmond is 4-2 in league play, having swept St. Bonaventure and losing two of three at Saint Joseph's.
SCOUTING REPORT: Richmond has been one of the hottest teams in all of collegiate baseball with a 21-4 record. The Spiders lead the country with a .342 team batting average, while their 4.24 team ERA leads the Atlantic 10. Richmond has three players hitting over .400 on the season, led by Jack Arcamone at .430 with 33 runs scored, 13 doubles, seven home runs, and 35 RBI. Jordan Jaffe is right behind him at .404 with 34 runs scored, six home runs, and 34 RBI, with Brady O'Brien at .400. On the hill, Esteban Rodriguez is one of the top starting pitchers in the Atlantic 10 with a 2.21 ERA and 20 strikeouts in six starts, while Ryan Bilka has been one of the best relievers, recording four wins and a 0.94 ERA in eight appearances with 27 strikeouts.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday - Fordham – RHP
Aidan Dowd (2-2, 4.45 ERA) at Richmond – RHP Esteban Rodriguez (1-1, 2.21 ERA)
Saturday – Fordham – RHP
Mike Rabayda (1-3, 5.27 ERA) at Richmond – RHP Chase Topolski (2-2, 4.78 ERA)
Sunday – Fordham – RHP
Aric Berg (0-0, 1.59 ERA) at Richmond – RHP Jackson Hinchliffe (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
SERIES HISTORY: Fordham and Richmond have played 44 times since the first meeting back in 1923 with the Spiders holding a 24-20 edge in the series. Last season, Fordham won last year's series at Houlihan Park, taking the first two games by scores of 5-2 and 12-2. The Spiders took the finale by a 6-2 final. In that series,
Cian Sahler hit .455 (5-11) with four RBI, while
Daniel Bucciero batted .417 (5-12) with four runs scored and four RBI.
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.
LAST TIME OUT (3/26): Fordham's
Taylor Kirk and
Andrew Kanellis drew bases loaded walks in the top of the 11
th inning, while
Koen Smith pitched three scoreless inning of relief, as the Rams outlasted the Wagner Seahawks, 6-4 in 11 innings at SIUH Community Field on Staten Island.
Fordham started the scoring in the third, as
Tommy Markey singled up the middle and stole second.
Cian Sahler then singled to right to bring in Markey for a 1-0 lead. The Rams doubled the lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning.
Daniel Bucciero doubled off the right field wall and stole third to begin the frame.
Madden Ocko followed with an RBI-single to left to score Bucciero.
Wagner cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI-double by Connor Roche. The score stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when the Seahawks grabbed a 3-2 on a two-run double by Lukas Torres.
Fordham quickly tied the game at three in the eighth.
Taylor Kirk drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a single by Sahler. Kirk then scored on a sacrifice fly by Bucciero. Wagner went back ahead in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-single by Roche to make it, 4-3.
The Rams then forced extra innings, as with two outs and a runner at third, Markey reached on an infield single to score
Matt Dieguez from third base.
The game went to the 11
th inning, where Fordham took a 6-4 lead on bases loaded walks to Kirk and
Andrew Kanellis.
Koen Smith (2-1) was able to get out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 11
th to get the win, as he completed three scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts. Smith was the last of seven pitchers to throw in the game.
Anthony Scarlata tossed two innings of scoreless relief, while
Ameer Hasan (2 K) and
Connor Haywood (3 K) each had one scoreless inning. At the plate, Markey was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while Sahler and Kanellis each had two hits and an RBI.
GOIN' STREAKIN': The Rams are 9-4 in their last 13 games, with the pitching staff leading the way with a 3.45 team ERA and a .233 opponent batting average…
Aidan Dowd is 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA and 17 strikeouts in his last three starts…
Koen Smith is 2-1 in his last six appearances with a 2.45 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11 innings…
Chase Hanawalt has a 1.54 ERA in his last four appearances, posting 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings…
Andrew Kanellis is hitting .412 (21-51) in his last 13 games with seven runs scored, 14 RBI, and five stolen bases…
Taylor Kirk is batting .360 in his last 13 contests with 15 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.
MEN OF STEAL: The Rams have gotten back into a stealing mode with 59 stolen bases this season, ranking 20
th in the NCAA, entering this week's play, while being 26
th in stolen bases per game (2.36). Fordham has eight players with at least three stolen bases this season, led by
Taylor Kirk and
Daniel Bucciero with 14 each.
WHO'S NEXT: After this series, Fordham returns home to Houlihan Park for a five-game homestand, starting on April 1
st against Monmouth, beginning at 3:00 PM.
