All it takes is a semester of studying in London to remind a New Yorker that the start of baseball season each year is a magical time. We are now past the halfway point of Fordham baseball’s 2023 campaign, and the team sits at a lackluster 14-22 overall record. Still, there is much to play for. 

The Rams only trail their conference rivals by one game for a qualifying spot in the Atlantic 10 (A10) postseason. With 15 conference games remaining, the team has ample opportunity to make the tournament that it missed out on a year ago. Let’s take a step back and evaluate how Fordham has fared this season and what needs to be done to end up in the 2023 A10 Championship.

If you’ve been following Fordham’s baseball season thus far, you’ve probably noticed one trend: high-scoring games. In the Rams’ nine conference games this season, they’ve allowed 8.89 runs per game. It is extremely difficult to average nine runs per game on the offensive end, so Fordham is not working with a recipe for success. In fact, despite strong offensive outputs from numerous Rams, Fordham has only managed to average 5.56 runs per game with its bats. Nearly six runs a game is respectable by many accounts, but it’s not enough to overcome the pitching staff’s woes. 

While it is easy to point at Fordham’s pitching struggles as an impediment to their success so far, a clear bright spot for the squad has been the offensive accomplishments of several players. Veteran Ryan Thiesse, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’24, has hit .436 with an OPS (On-base Plus Slugging) of 1.115 — meaning he hits the ball for power and gets on base at a high rate — and stolen five bases through nine conference games. First-year catcher Tommy McAndrews, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’26, has emerged as a potential star in the making. He is hitting .307 with an OPS of .945 overall this season.

Another young contributor has been Daniel Bucciero, GSBRH ’26, who is slashing at a .304 batting average, a .412 on-base percentage and a .440 slugging percentage on the year. Additionally, seniors Zach Selinger, FCRH ’23, and Will Findlay, GSBRH ’23, have put together productive seasons. Selinger leads the team in home runs and trails only McAndrews in OPS this year. Meanwhile, Findlay’s OPS sits above .800, and he has started all nine conference games so far. 

Statistically, the Rams have a deep offensive lineup that has scored runs throughout the season. Despite this, the team’s results this year have been less than spectacular. A main reason for this is likely that the team has only two pitchers with ERAs (earned run averages) under 6.00 in conference play so far. Although that is not good by any means, it is fortunate that the Rams have an identifiable problem. If Fordham can figure things out in the pitching staff, the offense has proven itself more than capable of scoring runs. 

Needless to say, the groundwork may be in place for an exciting end of the season and a possible postseason run, but drastic improvement is required among the pitching staff if the Rams want to make some noise.