Fordham University’s baseball team has gotten off to a slow start to the season. This past week, they looked to build off the momentum of a blowout 17-7 win against the College of William & Mary the week before.
The Rams hosted Wagner College to start off the week, hoping to bring the offensive spark from their previous game. The two teams were in a scoreless pitchers duel through the first four and a half innings of play, with only three hits total.
In the fifth inning, junior T.J. Wachter led off with a single and advanced to second on a balk call. Two batters later, senior Nico Boza singled to the left-center field gap to score Wachter and put Fordham up 1-0. Boza attempted to stretch the single into a double but was thrown out at second.
Wagner tied the game at one with an RBI double of their own in the sixth inning. They could have gotten more out of it if it wasn’t for graduate student right-fielder Andrew Kanellis, Boza and junior catcher Diego Prieto teaming up for a perfect relay to nab the go-ahead run at the plate.
The Rams took advantage of the huge defensive play and turned it into runs on the offensive side of the ball. In the bottom of the sixth, the Rams manufactured three runs without a single hit. After loading the bases on an error, a walk and a hit by pitch, Kanellis walked to bring in the go-ahead run. This was followed by a Wachter fielder’s choice and a balk to make the score 4-1 in favor of Fordham.
In the seventh, the Rams added to their lead with a four-run inning. Freshman Matt Dieguez started the scoring with a ground-rule RBI double down the left-field line. An error two batters later allowed two more runners to score before the inning was capped off with a Kanellis run-scoring single to center.
Fordham added two more insurance runs in the eighth for good measure. The first came on a solo shot to right field from junior Cian Sahler, his first of the season, which was later followed by an RBI single from senior Michael Brueser. The game ended in a 10-1 win for the Rams.
On the pitching side, it was a joint bullpen effort after the opener. Freshman Aidan Dowd threw two innings to start and was followed by seven other Fordham pitchers who each threw an inning. On the day, Rams pitching tallied up eight strikeouts, only allowing the lone run in the sixth.
Following the win, Fordham traveled up north to face the U.S. Military Academy West Point. After falling behind 4-0 early on, the Rams loaded the bases in the third and cut the deficit to three on a Kanellis RBI groundout. In the bottom of the inning, the Black Knights took the run right back to make it a 5-1 game.
Fordham’s offense woke up in the fifth inning with a five-run frame to take the lead. The inning began with a walk to senior Ryan Thiesse, who scored on sophomore Daniel Bucciero’s double in the next at-bat. Eventually loading the bases, the Rams then scored on a fielder’s choice, two walks and a passed ball. Fordham scored another run in the seventh to make it 7-5, the game’s final score.
Fordham’s bullpen once again did its job, this time just the tandem of sophomore Aric Berg and junior Connor Haywood combining for four scoreless innings after senior Declan Lavelle started the game. On the offensive side, Sahler continued his hot hitting, going 4-4 at the dish.
Now on a three-game win streak, dating back to the previous week, the Rams visited Fairfield University for a Saturday matinee.
Fordham went down early after allowing two runs in the first two innings of play, putting them in a quick 4-0 hole. They got all four runs back in the third to tie the game. The rally began with a single from senior Chris Genaro. After a walk, Bucciero stepped up with two on and doubled to score one. The bases were loaded two batters later, which was followed by a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to even up the score 4-4.
The Stags regained the lead in the bottom of the frame on back-to-back homeruns, the first a two-run shot and the second a solo. The score remained 7-4 until the sixth, when Fairfield added two more runs.
The two teams swapped runs in the seventh to make it a 10-5 game late. The Rams added one more in the eighth and two in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough, losing 10-8.
Fordham faced off against Army for the second time in this stretch of games, this time at home in the Bronx.
The Rams struck first in the third inning with a Genaro solo shot to left field, his first of the season. Fordham’s pitching held the Black Knights in check, keeping the score 1-0 until the seventh inning. In the seventh, the Rams added to their lead. With two men in scoring position and one out, Fordham capitalized on an Army error to score two. Later in the inning, Bucciero tacked on one more run with a single to make it 4-0.
Pitching a shutout through an inning, the Rams allowed two runs in the ninth to make it a closer final than the game appeared at 4-2. The pitching trio of freshman Aidan Dowd, junior Gannon Brady and Haywood combined for the near shutout. Dowd began the game with five scoreless innings, striking out six and earning the win.
Following the Army win, Fordham quickly turned around and played Fairfield that same day.
Genaro once again got the scoring started for the Rams with a two-run double in the second inning. The Stags responded next in with a four-run third to take a 4-2 lead. Fordham got one run back in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly, but after that, it was all Fairfield. They scored nine unanswered runs and took the game 13-3 in seven innings.
Fordham finished the week at 3-2 to give them an overall record of 6-13. Over the break, they’ll have five non-conference matchups before starting Atlantic 10 play at the University of Dayton on March 29.
