Baseball
After starting the season at 0-6, the Fordham baseball team reeled off 10 wins in its next 13 games, including opening Atlantic 10 play by taking two of three games at George Washington University.
The pitching staff has led the way for the Rams during this stretch, posting a 3.27 team ERA, while holding opponents to just a .231 batting average. Individually, junior Tom Davis and senior Javier Martinez have pitched well, each posting a 3-0 record in the span. In his last three starts, Davis boasts a 1.74 ERA and a .143 opponent batting average, while having struck out 10 batters in each of his last two starts. Martinez, who recently broke Pete Harnisch’s school record for career strikeouts, has posted a 3.27 ERA and a .224 opponent batting average, and in his last start, pitched a career-high 10 innings to pick up a win over George Washington.
At the plate, senior John Mollicone snapped a 16-game hitting streak in the Stony Brook game. Despite that game, Mollicone is batting .346 over this current stretch with five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI.
Softball
After starting the season at 9-12 against some tough competition, the Fordham softball team has reeled off nine straight wins for an 18-12 record, including a perfect 4-0 mark with a pair of wins over George Washington and La Salle.
The Fordham pitching staff has begun to impose its will on opponents over the past nine games, posting a 1.17 ERA and a .205 opponent batting average. Freshman Nicole Ayres has been extremely stingy, recording a 5-0 mark in the last nine games to go with a 0.97 ERA, 15 strikeouts and her first collegiate shutout against La Salle University.
At the plate over the last nine games, Fordham has a team batting average of .337 and has four players hitting .393 or better in that time, led by sophomore Melissa Andrews, who is hitting .483 (14-29) with four RBIs and four stolen bases. Senior Krystle Henry is batting .421 over that stretch as well, as she is now just five hits away from tying the Fordham career hits mark of 188, held by Ivy Pollock.
Track and Field
The Fordham University outdoor track and field squad opened its season at the Baldy Castillo Invitational held at Arizona State University where Kerstin Greene, fresh off her All-American showing in the pentathlon at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, finished in the top three in two events, taking second in her heat (third overall) in the 400-meter hurdles in a school-record time of 1:02:93 and taking third in the triple jump with a leap of 11.85 meters (38′ 10.5″). She broke Diana Nordquist’s former 400-meter hurdle school record of 1:03:16 set in 2006 in setting her fifth outdoor school record.
The Rams then competed at the 12th annual Monmouth Season Opener at Monmouth University on March 24, where Lindsey Kingsland took third in the discus with a toss of 133′ 3″, breaking the former school record of 125′ 4″ set by Yvonne Torrente in 1982.
On the men’s side, Matt DiBuono placed fourth in the hammer with a school record toss of 175′ 11″. He bested the previous mark of 167′ 10.5″ set by Bill Greene in 1961.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team is busy gearing up for the Atlantic 10 Championships, which will be held from April 5 through 8 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. The Rams recently defeated La Salle (4-3) and Rider (7-0) universities to put their record at 4-6 on the year.
Women’s Tennis
The Fordham University women’s tennis squad showed no effects of a one-month layoff as the Rams returned to action on March 22 with a 7-0 win over Fairfield University at the Stamford Indoor Tennis Club. With the win, the Rams improve to 3-4 on the year while Fairfield falls to 5-4.
Golf
The Fordham golf team opened the spring season at the George Washington Invitational held at the Bear Trap Dunes Golf Course in Bethany Beach, Delaware, where the Rams placed 18th out of 24 teams with a team score of 635 (316-319).
After a career-best round of 71 (-1), which tied him for fifth overall on day one, sophomore David Newman shot a round of 78 on day two, for a score of 149, good for a tie for 17th overall.
Rowing
The Fordham women’s crew opened their spring at the Murphy Cup held in Philadelphia, where the Rams entered two boats, the Junior Varsity 8 and the Varsity 8. The JV 8 finished fourth, driving through a more experienced Saint Joseph University crew to finish open water ahead of the Hawks. Bucknell University, Navy and Temple Univesity took the top three spots with Army being a late scratch while the Varsity 8 finished in fifth place in the finals, behind Bucknell, Navy, Saint Joseph’s and Dowling.
Remember to check out all the schedules, scores and highlights at www.fordhamsports.com.
By Joseph DiBari