Baseball Posts Win Over Swedish National Team

Bronx, N.Y. – (October 8, 2018) – The Fordham baseball team saw their first action of the new year on Columbus Day at Houlihan Park, as the Rams were the first opponent for the Swedish National Team. Team Sweden is on a seven-day New York City Tour, where they will also play Stony Brook, Hofstra and St. John's in exhibition games in the coming days. The Rams came out firing from the start, as Fordham pitchers totaled 15 strikeouts, while C.J. Vazquez reached base four times and scored three runs, as Fordham posted a 14-2 exhibition win over Sweden. After a scoreless top of the first was thrown by freshman Cory Wall, Fordham scored twice in the first to take a 2-0 lead. Junior Billy Godrick cracked a solo home run to left with two outs for the initial lead, while senior Justin Bardwell and sophomore Nick Labella connected on back-to-back doubles for the second run.

10/8/2018

Billy Godrick

Freshman Gabriel Karslo tossed a scoreless second inning, as the Rams increased the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore C.J. Vazquez drew a leadoff walk and stole second to start the frame. Freshman Andy Semo then singled to left with the left fielder misplaying the ball, allowing Vazquez to score. Senior Anthony DiMeglio pitched a scoreless third inning with two strikeouts for Fordham, while offensively the Rams tacked on another run for a 4-0 lead. This time, Godrick was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a dropped fly ball by the right fielder.

Billy Godrick (#32) is welcomed home after his first inning home run.

Sweden then got on the board in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a hit batsmen. Pär Axelsson then knocked in two runs with a ground rule double over the left field wall. Fordham answered back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 7-2. The Rams loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a hit batsman, which followed with a looping single down the right field line by senior Nico Doria to score Labella. Freshman Jason Coules then connected on a two-run double down the left field line to score Vazquez and Semo.

Nick Labella

The Rams then exploded for seven runs in the sixth for a 14-2 lead, highlighted by a two-run single by Vazquez, a two-run double by junior Justin Machado, and an RBI-single from freshman Jake Guercio. After allowing the two runs in the fourth, the Fordham bullpen locked down the Sweden offense, allowing just two hits the rest of the game. Sophomore Matt Mikulski threw 1.1 innings with two strikeouts, while sophomores Joseph Quintal and John Stankiewicz both struck out three batters in their inning of work each. Senior Mike Cowell posted two strikeouts in the eighth with junior Kyle Martin closing out the game in the ninth with two more strikeouts. At the plate, Godrick was 1-for-1 with a home run, two runs scored and a stolen base with Labella going 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Vazquez finished 1-for-1 with three runs scored, two RBI, two walks, and a stolen base, while Semo was 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Machado ended the game 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI with Coules going 1-for-1 with a double, two RBI, a walk and a run scored.