Bronx, N.Y. – (April 8, 2025) – In one of the longest standing college baseball series, the Fordham Rams and Columbia Lions renew pleasantries on Wednesday afternoon at Houlihan Park at 4:00 PM.
Fordham (15-17) looks to get back on track as the Rams end a five-game homestand against the Lions. The Rams were swept in their three-game conference series against Davidson, while Columbia (12-14) won two of three games from Cornell overall the weekend.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Fordham – LHP
Zach Karson (1-0, 5.87 ERA) vs. Columbia - LHP Brendan Murphy (0-1, 5.27 ERA)
SCOUTING REPORT: Columbia is 12-14 overall with a 7-2 mark in the Ivy League. The Lions are having a pretty good run offensively as of late, scoring at least nine runs in eight of their last 11 games. Sam Miller has been a big part of that, leading the squad in batting average (.327), home runs (8), and RBI (31). In the final game of the team's series with Cornell, Miller hit the game-winning grand slam home run in the ninth to post a 13-9 win. Anton Lazits is tied with Miller for the team lead in home runs with eight to go along with 27 RBI.
SERIES HISTORY: The Rams and Lions have matched up against each other since 1884, playing each other over 130 times. Since 1899, Fordham is 71-58-2 against its long-time adversary, but the Lions have won five of the last six match-ups, which includes a 14-2 victory last season at Columbia. The Rams' last win in the series came in 2019, a 3-2 win in 11 innings.
WEEKEND RECAP (4/4-5): After posting a three-game sweep the previous weekend at Richmond, the Rams were swept by Davidson in a weather impacted series.
Final scores were 10-5, 17-6, and 12-1 in eight innings.
GOIN' STREAKIN': Taylor Kirk is on a season-long 11-game hitting streak, batting .419 over that span with 15 runs scored, nine RBI, and five stolen bases…
Tommy Markey is hitting .382 in his last 11 games with eight runs scored, two home runs, and six RBI…
Andrew Kanellis has a .348 batting average over the last 11 games with eight runs scored, four extra-base hits, and 12 RBI…
Daniel Bucciero has 12 runs scored, 12 RBI, and 12 steals in the last 11 games.
MEN OF STEAL: The Rams have gotten back into a stealing mode with 77 stolen bases this season, ranking 17
th in the NCAA, entering this week's play, while being 19
th in stolen bases per game (2.41). Fordham has nine players with at least three stolen bases this season, led by
Daniel Bucciero, who is 16
th in the country with 21, while
Taylor Kirk is 41
st with 17.
WHO'S NEXT: Following the Columbia game, the Rams hit the road for a three-game Atlantic 10 series at Saint Joseph's, April 11-13, in Philadelphia.
