Published: May 1, 2008

The Fordham Rams unloaded offensively this week against Iona  College and the New York Institute of Technology  on April 22 and April 23, scoring 23 runs in two games to pick up a pair of important victories.

“In our game against Iona, we knew we just had to control the game and play ‘Fordham baseball’ in order to walk away with a victory,” said outfielder Alex Kenny, FCRH ’11.  The Rams were firing on all cylinders in the 10-4 win, with nine hitters recording at least one hit in the game. The victory moved them to 21-18-1 on the year, placing the team in position to have another winning season if the trend continues.

Shortstop Rich Goulian, FCRH ’08, led the charge on April 22 with two hits, including the 200th of his career.

“Once I was aware that I was close to my 200th hit, I made it a personal goal to reach that plateau,” Goulian said.

The milestone isn’t Goulian’s only accomplishment this season.  His .321 batting average and team best .466 on base percentage as of April 20, along with his team high 47 runs scored, have been crucial to the Rams’ success this season.

Goulian is not yet satisfied, though, focusing his efforts on a new goal.

“My next goal for the season would be to make a run at getting in the A-10 playoffs,” Goulian said. “We aren’t too close, but a late season surge could put us right back in the mix of things.”

Goulian’s bat stayed red hot on April 23 as the Rams slugged out a 13-12 victory over New York Tech at Rose Hill’s Houlihan Park. Goulian was blazing hot at the plate on April 23, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, leading the team to another high-powered victory.

The Rams’ pitching wasn’t extraordinary in their two victories, but it was tough and strong enough to get the job done.  John Flannigan, FCRH ’11, picked up April 22‘s victory with five solid innings and support from Jake Rabinowitz, FCRH ’09, and Ryan Shefflot, FCRH ’08, out of the bullpen.

The Rams followed up that pitching performance by giving up 12 runs on April 23.  The bullpen was able to come through in a big way again for the Rams, however. Angelo Ponte, FCRH ’09, picked up the victory coming out of the bullpen, and Chris Kaible, FCRH ’08, pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his eighth save of the season.

Kaible also helped his cause offensively, adding three RBIs at the plate.

“We’re going to need all the pitchers to step up in the final few weeks of the season.  We’ve recently lost a few pitchers due to injury and some pitchers are going to be put into different roles that they aren’t used to,” said right fielder PJ Como, FCRH ’09. “I have a lot of confidence in the pitching staff, and I feel like they’re going to come through for us in the final weeks,” Como added.

PJ Como has had a very good season himself after making an adjustment to correct a flaw in his swing that a teammate, Andrew Davis, FCRH ’10, pointed out during a batting practice session earlier this season.  “I worked hard in the preseason and changed a few things in my swing,” Como said of his recent offensive success.

The Rams must maintain a similar work ethic for the remainder of the season in order to get back into the Atlantic 10 race.  Fordham was expected to do well within the conference this season because of their strong performance last year.

“So far we have not fulfilled these expectations, but we have four big conference series which can make or break our season,” Kenny said.