Fordham Baseball ended their spring break games with six consecutive Atlantic 10 contests, going 3-3 against the University of Dayton and the University of Richmond.
Before another A-10 series against the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Rams traveled to face Columbia University at Robertson Field. Fordham’s pitching and hitting were both sluggish in a 14-2 loss against the Lions.
The game was scoreless through the first three innings of play, but in the third, the floodgates opened. The Lions pounced on Fordham’s pitching for 11 runs through the next three innings. The Rams tacked on two in the seventh with an RBI double from senior Ryan Thiesse and an RBI single from junior Cian Sahler, but it was too little too late. Columbia added three more runs, one in the seventh and two in the eighth, to close out a 14-2 victory.
Sophomore Daniel Bucciero was the lone bright spot for the Rams, going 3-4 with a double and one run scored, continuing his impressive second season.
The first game of the three-game series in Amherst was scheduled for Friday, April 12, but with rain in the forecast, the game was rescheduled for the following day to set up a double-header to open the series. In the first game of the twin bill, Fordham held off a four-run ninth-inning comeback from the Minutemen to win 7-6.
The Rams struck first when Bucciero singled to lead off the game and advanced to second two batters later on a failed pickoff attempt. With two outs and Bucciero in scoring position, Sahler brought him home with a single for a first-inning 1-0 Fordham lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the third when UMass tied it up on an RBI groundout before taking a 2-1 lead two batters later with a run-scoring single. In the fourth, the Rams took advantage of some sloppy Minutemen fielding as two errors led to first and third with only one out. The errors were two of four total on the day for UMass. With runners on the corners, senior Chris Genaro singled one in to tie the score again. Bucciero followed up with another RBI single to continue his hot hitting and reclaim the lead for Fordham. Thiesse scored both Genaro and Buccero on a double to make it 5-2 Rams.
Fordham tacked on one more in the fifth and another in the ninth to provide plenty of run support for starting pitcher senior Declan Lavelle. Lavelle notched season highs in innings pitched and strikeouts, pitching 8.2 and punching out 12. Until the ninth, Lavelle had only allowed three runs, but with two outs and trying to finish off the complete game, he gave up a three-run homer to make it a 7-6 game. Sophomore Aric Berg came in for the final out to earn the save and preserve a 7-6 Rams win in game one. The win was the 500th of head coach Kevin Leighton’s career and 300th at Fordham.
In game two, the Minutemen rode an early offensive outbreak to a 7-5 win. UMass jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead, scoring all five in the second inning. In the third inning, Fordham began to chip away, scoring one in the third on a Sahler RBI single before scoring three in the fourth. The runs in the fourth came on a Genaro sacrifice fly, graduate student Andrew Kanellis’ hit by pitch and a Sahler walk to put the Rams within one. The Minutemen got two back in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run home run to make it a 7-4 ballgame. In the fifth, graduate student Henry Pelinksi ripped a double to center, and a throwing error allowed one run to score as Fordham tried to chip away at the lead once again, but that was the last run they scored.
The Rams and Minutemen headed into the final game with the series tied up at one apiece. The game started looking like it would be all UMass, but a late Fordham rally led to a 6-5 victory to win the series.
The Minutemen touched up Rams starting pitcher junior Andres Perez for four runs in the first, the big blow being a three-run home run. In the second, Fordham began to chip away at the 4-0 UMass lead with a solo shot off the bat of sophomore Tommy McAndrews. After the four-run first, Perez and the Ram’s pitching settled down to keep the score 4-1 and allow the offense to get back into the game. In the sixth, the offense did just that with some small ball. Thiesse led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, followed by a Sahler bunt single. A double steal put runners at second and third before a McAndrews walk loaded the bases. With the bases juiced, graduate student Steve Luttazi was hit by a pitch to score one and freshman Madden Ocko sent a fly ball to right for a sacrifice fly to score another, making it a 4-3 ballgame. A Minutemen solo shot in the bottom of the seventh pushed the UMass lead back to two. The lead didn’t last long, though, as in the eighth inning, a McAndrews double and Luttazi walk put two on for Pelinski, who drove the ball over the left field wall for a go-ahead three-run home run.
Berg pitched the final three innings, including the final three outs with the lead, to preserve the 6-5 Fordham victory and 2-1 series win. After the first inning, Perez pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, followed by 6.1 innings of one-run ball from the bullpen. Junior Connor Haywood pitched 2.1 innings, freshman Brixton Lofgren pitched a scoreless sixth and Berg finished it off.
To wrap up the week, the Rams hosted Sacred Heart University for a single-game exhibition. Fordham came away with a tight 2-1 victory in a pitcher’s duel. The Rams opened the scoring after two singles and two walks scored one. The game remained 1-0 until the seventh, when Big Red tied it up with a sacrifice play. Fordham answered in the eighth with a sacrifice fly of their own to give them a 2-1 lead. Overall, the Rams deployed seven different pitchers, with Berg finishing off the ninth for his third save to seal the one-run victory.
The 3-2 week puts Fordham at 14-21 overall, but with the series win, they improve to 5-4 in conference play. Next up for the Rams is another three-game A-10 series hosting Saint Louis University in the Bronx this weekend.
