Bronx, N.Y. – (March 31, 2025) – The Fordham baseball team rolls back into Houlihan Park on Tuesday afternoon to start a five-game homestand against the Monmouth Hawks. The Rams look to stay on the winning track, having won eight of their last nine games, including the last four. Monmouth also comes into Tuesday's game on a roll, having won four of its last five games.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Fordham – LHP
Zach Karson (0-0) vs. Monmouth – RHP Joey Ciancimino (1-1)
SCOUTING REPORT: Monmouth is 13-14 on the year with a 3-3 mark in the CAA after taking two of three games from Towson over the weekend. Much like the Rams, the Hawks like to run, recording 64 stolen bases in 75 attempts, while batting .277 as a team. Casey Caufield paces the Hawks with a .365 batting average to go with 25 runs scored, eight doubles, 14 RBI, and 10 stolen bases, while Jay Bant has a team-high 30 RBI to go with .311 batting average and three home runs. Pitcher Joey Ciancimino looks to be the probable starter on the mound. He is 1-1 in eight appearances with 14 strikeouts in 19.0 innings pitched.
SERIES HISTORY: Tuesday will be the ninth meeting between Fordham and Monmouth. The Rams hold a 5-3 record against the Hawks. The teams last played in 2022 for a split three-game series, where each game was won by the home team. Fordham won the first two games at Houlihan Park, 10-9 and 8-5, while Monmouth took the finale in New Jersey by a 3-2 score. Fordham's
Cian Sahler had a big hand in that series, going 6-for-9 with three runs scored, and five RBI, while having a walk-off two-run single in the series opener.
WEEKEND RECAP (3/28-30): Fordham earned its first sweep of the Richmond Spiders since 2009 over the weekend by scores of 13-9, 15-11, and 21-18.
The Rams opened the series with an incredible come-from-behind win, scoring nine times in the ninth inning to pull out a 13-9 victory.
Tommy McAndrews hit a two-run home run to start the comeback and was capped by a three-run home run by
Chase Hanawalt.
On Saturday, Fordham hit four more home runs to power past the Spiders, 15-11.
Andrew Kanellis hit a pair of home runs and scored four times to lead the way, while
Daniel Bucciero was 4-for-6 with three runs scored, two RBI, and a career-high four stolen bases.
The sweep was capped by a wild 21-18 victory, where the Rams hit seven home runs in the contest. Bucciero and
Cian Sahler each hit two home runs, while
Matt Dieguez,
Anthony Grabau, and
Madden Ocko also went deep. In all, the Rams hit 15 home runs in the series and scored 49 runs.
GOIN' STREAKIN': The Rams are 8-1 in their last nine games, averaging 9.67 runs per game, while hitting .314 as a team…
Tommy Markey has been on fire over that stretch, batting .429 with nine runs scored, a home run, four RBI, and three stolen bases, recording multi-hit games in each of the last four contests…
Taylor Kirk is batting .395 in the last nine games with 14 runs scored, eight RBI, and seven stolen bases, and takes a seven-game hit streak into Tuesday…
Daniel Bucciero has turned the dial to 11 in his last nine contests with 11 runs scored, 11 RBI, and 11 stolen bases, while hitting .350 at the plate…
Andrew Kanellis (12),
Matt Dieguez (10), and
Cian Sahler (10) all have double digit RBI totals over the last nine games.
MEN OF STEAL: The Rams have gotten back into a stealing mode with 70 stolen bases this season, ranking 14
th in the NCAA, entering this week's play, while being 20
th in stolen bases per game (2.50). Fordham has nine players with at least three stolen bases this season, led by
Daniel Bucciero, who is 15
th in the country with 19, while
Taylor Kirk is 34
th with 16.
WHO'S NEXT: Following the Monmouth game, Fordham hosts Davidson for a three-game Atlantic 10 series, April 4-6, at Houlihan Park.
