Fordham Notes
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure (Overall: 9-9, A-10: 1-2) welcomes Atlantic 10 rival Fordham (Overall: 8-16, A-10: 1-2) to Fred Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings field for a three-game series this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bonnies come into this weekend's series following a 4-3 loss to Big 4 rival Canisus Tuesday afternoon, putting their record at 9-9 for the season. The Bonnies fell behind early, giving up three runs in the top of the first inning and then another run in the top of the fourth, placing the team in a 4-0 deficit. The Brown and White attempted a late comeback, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth on hits by senior right fielder Ryan Skellie and junior shortstop Michael Meredith. Asa Johnson (1-1) went five allowing four runs, all earned, on six hits, picking up his first loss of the season.
SCOUTING FORDHAM: Junior infielder Mike Mauri leads the Rams with a .279 batting average. Mauri and senior linfielder Ryan Maghini share the team lead in hits with 24. Maghini, Mauri and senior infielder Brian Kownacki each have 13 RBI, a team high.
BATTLE ON THE BUMP:
Game 1 Probable: Eddie Gray (LHP)
In Gray's (2-1) four starts this season, he has an ERA of 3.53. In 35.2 innings he's given up 15 runs, 14 earned, on 43 hits. He's walked 14 and struck out 25.
Game 2 Probable: Jordan Crane (RHP)
Crane (2-0) has an ERA of 4.55 in his five appearances this season. In 31.2 innings he has given up 20 runs, 39 hits. He's walked five and struck out 19.
Game 3 Probable: Cael Johnson (RHP)
Johnson is 1-2 in his four starts this season. He has a 4.37 ERA in 16 innings. He's given up 18 run on 21 hits, walked 20 and struck out 25.
LAST SEASON: The teams played a three-game series April 8-10 last season in the Bronx with Fordham winning the first two games 6-5 and 6-2 and St. Bonaventure taking the season finale 9-1
CONFERENCE PLAY: Both St. Bonaventure and Fordham have a 1-2 record in conference games.
URBAN FEEL: Through 18 games, junior third baseman Billy Urban leads the team and the A-10 with a .435 batting average. He leads the team with 30 hits, 20 RBI and 16 runs scored.
CLUTCH: Urban is 9-9 in getting the runner in from 3rd with less than two outs.
DOUBLED: Urban also leads the team with seven doubles so far this season.
SMALL BALL: The Bonnies currently hold the highest batting average in the A-10 (.316) while having the fewest homeruns (2). Urban and Michael Meredith each have a home run.
NO LONGER STREAKING: 7 hits against Canisius snapped a streak of 4 straight double-digit games (was tied for the longest stretch of the year).
STREAKING: Both Brennan and Urban are on 13-game hitting streaks that began in the team's March 1 20-4 victory against Mount St. Mary's at Winter Haven, Fla. Jason Radwan currently holds and 11-game streak.
GOING LOW: The Bonnies have decreased their team ERA each of the last five games.
HIT PARADE: So far this season the Bonnies have recorded the most hits by an A-10 team in a game. (21 vs. Dayton (3/24/12).
STARTERS: Urban and Brennen are the only two Bonnies to start all 18 games this season.
DOUBLE-DIGITS = VICTORIES The Bonnies are 3-0 when scoring 10+ runs, 9-0 when leading after 8 and 0-9 when trailing after 8.
DOUBLE CLUTCH: Senior left fielder Nick Brennen is second on the team with a .403 batting average, 27 hits, 19 RBI and 11 runs scored. Brennen is also hitting .458 vs. righties. He is batting. 486 with runners on base, .600 with runners in scoring position and .438 with runners on base with two outs and .538 with runners in scoring position with two outs.
ROAD WOES: This season, the Rams are 2-9 on the road while the Bonnies are 1-1 at home.
GROUND DELIVERY: Gray gets a majority of his outs (45) on the ground compared with air (28).
AIR MAIL: Crane gets a majority of his outs (41) in the air than on the ground (32).
CRANE'S PERFECT: The Bonnies are 4-0 when Crane starts.
ON DECK: Following this series the Bonnies will play a doubleheader against Big 4 rival Buffalo on Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m. at Fred Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field.
