Fordham Baseball began the 2025 season against No. 13 ranked North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, this past weekend with a three-game series.
The Rams offense struggled to find its footing, dropping both games of a doubleheader to kick off the weekend, 11-1 and 12-2.
N.C. State opened game one by taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI groundout. Fordham had a chance to even the score in the second inning after loading the bases with two walks and a hit-by-pitch, but the Rams stranded all three runners. After the first, Rams starting pitcher, junior Aric Berg, settled in to pitch 3.2 innings, striking out four and allowing the lone first-inning run.
The score remained 1-0 until the fourth inning when sophomore Matt Dieguez lifted a fly ball into right that was dropped, allowing him to reach third. He then scored on sophomore Carson Chavez’s sacrifice fly in the following at-bat to even the score at one apiece. Unfortunately for Fordham, that would be the only run they managed to score all game, as the Rams recorded six hits but left nine men on base.
The Wolfpack regained the lead in the fifth inning on a pair of RBI singles, making it a 3-1 ballgame. They extended the lead to 7-1 in the seventh and 11-1 in the eighth before the game was called due to the ten-run rule.
In game two, Fordham struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after putting two men in scoring position with two outs, ultimately scoring on a wild pitch. N.C. State responded immediately with three runs in the bottom half, scoring on a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer.
The Rams pulled within a run in the third after scoring again on a wild pitch, but N.C. State broke the game open in the fourth with an RBI double, a two-run double and an RBI single, stretching the lead to 7-2. The Wolfpack added three more in the sixth and two in the seventh to invoke the 10-run rule once again.
The third and final game of the series was scoreless through the first two and a half innings, with the two teams combining for only three hits, all singles. In the third inning, the Wolfpack bats came alive for six runs, including a three-run home run. N.C. State tacked on another in the fourth on an RBI double, before once again racking up a six-run inning in the fifth, which included the second three-run home run of the game.
Fordham freshman Anthony Grabau got the Rams on the board in the sixth with his first collegiate home run, a solo shot to right, making it a 13-1 game. However, N.C. State immediately responded with its third six-run inning of the day in the bottom half.
The Rams showed some late life in the seventh, scoring five runs, highlighted by Dieguez’s three-run homer, his first collegiate long ball, and a solo shot from freshman Caden Young — also his first. Despite the rally, the game ended via the ten-run rule, with Fordham falling 19-6.
The Rams will look to bounce back when they head back to North Carolina to face Harvard University, Indiana University and Northwestern University at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, starting Friday.