Bronx, N.Y. – (April 24, 2025) – A winner in five of the last six games, the Fordham baseball team continues Atlantic 10 play this weekend against VCU at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia. Weather forecasts have caused slight alterations to the series with Friday's game now at 5:00 PM with Saturday beginning at 11:00 AM. Sunday's contest remains a 1:00 PM game.
Fordham (20-22, 10-8 A-10) enters the weekend in a tie for sixth place in the conference standings with Dayton and are three games back of first place Rhode Island. VCU (12-28, 5-13) is currently 11
th in the standings.
SCOUTING REPORT: It has been a transition season for VCU under first year head coach Sean Thompson. The team is hitting .247 with just one batter over the .300 mark in Adrian Jimenez, who is hitting .347 with 16 runs scored, nine doubles, and 16 RBI. Jacob Lee is the team leader in the power categories with nine home runs and 41 RBI, followed by Nick Flores with six home runs, 10 doubles, 30 RBI, and a .299 batting average. On the mound, Owen Tappy and Nick Frers lead the rotation. Tappy is 3-1 in 10 appearances with a 3.04 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 50.1 innings, while Frers is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday - Fordham – RHP
Aidan Dowd (3-3, 5.62 ERA) at VCU – RHP Owen Tappy (3-1, 3.04 ERA)
Saturday – Fordham – RHP
Mike Rabayda (1-4, 5.77 ERA) at VCU – RHP Nick Frers (1-2, 5.06 ERA)
Sunday – Fordham – RHP
Chase Hanawalt (0-1, 6.06 ERA) at VCU – TBD
SERIES HISTORY: Having first met in 2005, Fordham and VCU have played each other 30 times over a 20-year span. The Virginia-based Rams have won 22 of the 30 contests from the Bronx-based Rams, including the last six meetings. Fordham's last win over VCU came at the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship.
LAST TIME OUT (4/23): Fordham's
Taylor Kirk recorded the go-ahead RBI-single in the sixth inning, while the Rams' bullpen combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless relief, as the Rams took the "Battle of the Bronx" from the Manhattan Jaspers, 5-4, at Houlihan Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The Rams scored in each of the first three innings, building up a 4-0 lead. With two out in the first inning,
Daniel Bucciero singled to right center, stole second, and scored on a single by
Andrew Kanellis. The Rams's two-out magic continued in the second, as
Reid Lapekas connected on an RBI-single to right, scoring
Tommy McAndrews from second. Then in the third, Kanellis drew a two-out walk, which was followed by a two-run home run to right, his fifth of the season.
Manhattan fought back with two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game at four. Aidan Taclas hit a two-run home run in the fourth, his sixth of the season, while the fifth inning saw an RBI-double from Nico Mattera with the other run coming in on a double.
Fordham broke the tie in the sixth inning, taking advantage of a Manhattan error.
Matt Dieguez led off with a walk and after a pair of fly outs, reached third on a failed pick off attempt.
Taylor Kirk then beat out an infield single to plate Dieguez.
From there, the Rams' bullpen took charge, holding the Jaspers scoreless the rest of the game.
Beau Elson (5-2) got the win in relief, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
Connor Haywood followed with a scoreless seventh inning, while
Ryan Egan and
Gannon Brady combined for a scoreless eighth.
Koen Smith then locked down his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth, posting two strikeouts. At the plate, Lapekas was 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Bucciero went 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and two stolen bases.
RARE AIR: Freshman
Taylor Kirk has had an impressive first season with the Rams, standing among the team leaders in batting average (.335), runs scored (42), walks (23), and stolen bases (24). As of late, he has been on a heater, reaching base safely in his last 30 games, while having a 19-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday at Fairfield. The hit streak was the second-longest by a Ram since 1995 behind only
Cian Sahler's school record 22-game hit streak from last season, while his 30-game on-base streak makes him one of six Rams to reach that mark in the last 30 seasons, joining Mike Marchiano (67), Eric Reese (49), Jason Coules (38), Bobby Kingsbury (37), and Danny Leach (31).
APRIL ALL-STAR: Out of all the Rams, the one swinging the hottest bat might be
Andrew Kanellis. During the month of April, he is batting .489 (23-47) with a .597 on-base percentage and a .702 slugging percentage. He has scored 14 runs in 13 games to go with three home runs, 11 RBI, and four stolen bases. He also has a seven-game hitting streak entering this weekend.
MEN OF STEAL: The Rams have gotten back into a stealing mode with 101 stolen bases this season, marking the 13
th time in program history that the team has reached the century mark. The Rams rank 11
th in the NCAA in total stolen bases and 19
th in per game average (2.40). Fordham has 10 players with at least three stolen bases this season, led by
Daniel Bucciero, who is 16
th in the country with 27.
Taylor Kirk is also at 20-plus steals with 24, marking the first time since 2019 that Fordham has had two players with 20 or more steals in the same season.
CHASING MILESTONES: Daniel Bucciero is chasing an individual milestone this weekend, as he is one RBI shy of 100 for his career, while he is 24 hits shy of 200 for his time at Fordham.
WHO'S NEXT: Following this weekend's series, Fordham heads to Sacred Heart for a mid-week road game on April 29
th.
