Published: April 30, 2009

Rams first baseman Bobby DiNardo, College of Business Administration (CBA) ’09, is having the best season of his collegiate career, hitting .336 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI while anchoring a Fordham team that sits in sixth place in the Atlantic 10 standings.

DiNardo currently leads the team in batting average, runs scored, hits, doubles, homeruns, walks and RBI.  But as one of three team captains, DiNardo brings more to the team than just incredible run production.

“Bobby brings everything he has day in and day out,” said catcher Angelo Ponte, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’09.  “Off the stat sheet he is a strong leader and is willing to do anything he can to help the team.”

Infielder Ryan McCrann, FCRH ’09, agreed. “Bobby’s having an unbelievable year but it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone on the team. He worked hard in the gym in the off-season and had a great fall.  Obviously its great to have that kind of production in your lineup but he helps our team beyond that. We’re relying on a lot of underclassmen this year and Bobby has done a great job as team captain to help lead some of the younger guys. He sets a great example by working hard every day in practice. He’s a great captain and a great teammate.”

For DiNardo, this season’s leadership position hasn’t changed his approach to the game. “It really hasn’t been much different this year being a captain,” he said.  “I’ve always had a leadership type of role on this team and this year is the same.  I just have more authority to tell the underclassmen what to do and how to improve.”

DiNardo has already equaled or eclipsed most of last season’s totals in terms of hits, walks, and RBI, and he’s done it with only 2/3 the number of at-bats.  At his current pace, he is set to challenge Fordham record holders for career home runs, doubles, and RBI.

“The only thing I’ve really changed this year at the plate was that my whole approach now is to drive the ball to right field,” said the 6’3” 222-pound right-handed slugger.  “I’ve made a conscious effort to let the ball travel deeper in the zone and drive it to right and trust my hands to be quick enough if they try to beat me inside.  To be honest, I have not given any thought into what records I’m closing in on, I just go out there everyday trying to help my team compete and win games.”

DiNardo’s breakout year has coincided with a strong Atlantic 10 performance by the Rams, who took two of three games from Charlotte and swept UMass in the first two conference series of the season. Fordham now owns a 9-9 conference record and sits in sixth place in the 14-team field.

“So far this year I feel like we’ve competed with well with every team,” said DiNardo.  “Obviously we’d like to have more wins, but I feel like we’re just hitting our stride now and we’re going to have a tremendous second half of the season. I’m very happy with our start in Atlantic 10 play and I feel like we’ve set ourselves up nicely for the remainder of conference play to make a strong push into the playoffs.”

DiNardo missed games on April 14 and 15 with a back injury, but returned in top form, collecting two hits and four RBI in a loss to Xavier.