Baseball Improves to 15-8-1 After Strong Spring Break Performance

Fordham+Baseball+won+five+of+its+seven+contests+over+spring+break%2C+including+two+out+of+three+over+rival+Manhattan.+%28Julia+Comerford%2FThe+Fordham+Ram%29
Back to Article
Back to Article

Baseball Improves to 15-8-1 After Strong Spring Break Performance

Fordham Baseball won five of its seven contests over spring break, including two out of three over rival Manhattan. (Julia Comerford/The Fordham Ram)

Fordham Baseball won five of its seven contests over spring break, including two out of three over rival Manhattan. (Julia Comerford/The Fordham Ram)

Fordham Baseball won five of its seven contests over spring break, including two out of three over rival Manhattan. (Julia Comerford/The Fordham Ram)

Fordham Baseball won five of its seven contests over spring break, including two out of three over rival Manhattan. (Julia Comerford/The Fordham Ram)

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.


Email This Story






By Jack McLoone

Fordham Baseball won five of its seven contests over spring break, including two out of three over rival Manhattan. (Julia Comerford/The Fordham Ram)

While Fordham Baseball was snowed out like the rest of the school on Wednesday, March 21, that didn’t keep it from getting hot; over the seven games the Rams played over spring break, they won five, including taking two of three in their first Atlantic 10 series at Davidson. The Rams’ record is now 15-8-1.

“It’s always good to win! We’ve done a good job of finding different ways to win which is a positive sign,” said head coach Kevin Leighton. “I think the important thing is that we continue to focus on the current practice or game and not feel too good or bad about the past.”

The Rams showed off their ability to win in close games on the backs of strong pitching in North Carolina against Davidson.

In game one, on Friday, March 23, the Rams lost 5-4, but were just a couple breaks away. While junior starting pitcher Reiss Knehr struck out Davidson batters eight times, he also gave up nine hits, three walks and a hit batsman. In all, he gave up all five runs, all earned.

Knehr started the game with a 2-0 lead by virtue of a two-run home run by sophomore shortstop Matt Tarabek, who got increasingly hot over the break, despite the fluctuating temperatures. Over the seven games, he went 11 for 25 (.440), with seven RBIs, four runs scored and three stolen bases.

Leighton believes Tarabek’s recent success is pretty easy to explain.

“I think Matt has been a bit more aggressive and when he’s gotten a good pitch to hit he hasn’t missed it very often,” he said.

Just as impressive as his batting numbers, if not more so, is Tarabek’s improvement in the field. In his first 24 games, Tarabek committed seven errors, an unseemly number for anyone but particularly a shortstop. However, over the hot streak he has only committed one.

Whether the offense is helping the defense or vice versa is a chicken or the egg scenario, and Leighton has chalked it up to Tarabek “settling in and being comfortable.”
Tarabek showed just how comfortable he was feeling at the plate in game two, going 4-4 for his first time with the Rams in their 5-2 win.

The Wildcats got on the board first in the bottom of the second. With a runner on first and two outs, an error by freshman third baseman C.J. Vasquez extended the inning. A walk and a single later, the Rams and senior starting pitcher Ben Greenberg were behind 2-0.

Greenberg was solid the rest of the way, going seven innings and striking out three and allowing just the two unearned runs.

The Rams took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth off of an RBI single by freshman first baseman Nick Labella and a two-RBI triple by second baseman Jake MacKenzie, and they never looked back.

Sophomore Alvin Melendez continued his on-base stylings in this game, going 0-2 with three walks, three runs scored, a stolen base and taking home on a wild pitch in the ninth that brought that game to its 5-2 final.

Game three of the series was the inverse of the first, with the Rams winning 5-4 to take the series. Up 1-0 in the fifth inning, junior starting pitcher Anthony DiMeglio hit a wall, giving up four runs in the inning, including walking in one.

However, the bats picked him up in the top of the eighth, scoring three to tie the game at 4. The Rams won it on an RBI squeeze bunt by sophomore outfielder Jake Baker, which brought Vasquez in to score.

After a successful foray down south, the Rams returned to the expansive confines of Houlihan Park to face the St. Peter’s Peacocks. And much like the “support peacock’ that wasn’t allowed to board a plane, St. Peter’s was prevented from scoring, tallying just one hit. It was the Rams’ second one-hit shutout of the season. Meanwhile, the Fordham offense poured on 18 runs for an 18-0 victory.

It was a bullpen game for the Rams, with freshman pitcher Joseph Quintal making his first start and giving up just one walk over four innings of work. Freshman pitcher Matt Mikulski continued the no-hitter through the fifth. It was freshman reliever Brandon Nance who gave up the lone hit, a double to center with one out in the sixth. Junior Mike Cowell, sophomore Brandon Martin and junior Anthony Zimmerman finished things up on the mound.

In the first four innings, the Rams scored at least one run in each frame, including five in the third.

The Rams wrapped up their spring break by taking two of three from Manhattan to win the annual Battle of the Bronx.

Knehr was his usual strong self in the first game on March 30, giving the Rams six innings of two-hit ball while the offense staked out to an 8-0 lead. Melendez finished a homer short of the cycle. It was a second dominant performance in a row and their fourth straight win.

However, they came back down to earth in the front half of the doubleheader they played on Saturday, March 31 to avoid playing on Easter Sunday.

Greenberg continued his strong pitching, but was the tough-luck loser in a 2-0 affair. He fell victim to small ball in the fourth inning. A walk, a bunt single and a sacrifice fly put runners on the corners with two outs, with a run coming in on a single.

The Ram bats were mostly silent, missing out on a number of opportunities with runners in scoring position, particularly a bases-loaded, one out chance in the first inning. They ended up with only six hits.

However, they woke up one last time in the back half of the doubleheader, where the Rams cruised to a 9-1 win. DiMeglio had his best start of the season so far, going seven innings and giving up just one run on two hits and collecting eight strikeouts and no walks.

The Rams only had six hits in this game as well, but they were much more timely, including taking advantage of an error for a four-run sixth.

The key to the Rams this year has been Ben Greenberg and the pitching staff. Their team ERA of 3.29 is 38th in the country. Leighton credits the senior for a lot of the success, with his steady hand able to grind out a workman five to six innings every start with little to no damage.

Offensively, the Rams have finally shown some improvement. Their collective .261 batting average and .362 on-base percentage are about middle of the road in all of Division I baseball, a drastic change from their recent cellar-dweller status. Melendez has been a key to the offense, according to Leighton, since he can get on base in a variety of ways and steal both second and third once on base.

The Rams will look to stay hot and for better weather when they play St. Peter’s again on Wednesday, April 4 at 3:30 p.m. at home and then welcome in Rhode Island for their first home A-10 series of the season.