2018: Appeared in 20 games out of the bullpen...struck out 31 batters in 36.1 innings of work...finished second on the team with three saves...held opponents to a .277 batting average...struck out four in just 1.2 innings of work in his first outing of the season at Kansas (2/23)...recorded his first and only win of the season with 1.2 shutout innings at Texas (3/2)...earned his first save with a three inning closeout performance at Central Michigan (3/17)...tossed 3.2 innings of shutout ball versus Illinois (3/24)...earned his second save with a perfect ninth in a shutout at Notre Dame (4/11)...allowed one hit in three innings versus Michigan State (4/20)...struck out two in the ninth inning to earn his third save of the season at Penn State (4/28)...pitched a season-high 5.1 innings in his final contest, surrendering zero earned runs and striking out two versus Belmont (5/19).   

2017: Appeared on the mound in 18 games, fourth most on the team … Struck out 16 batters in 13.2 innings … Fanned a pair in a scoreless inning of relief against Arizona State (Feb. 18) … Went a season-long 2.0 innings against Iowa (April 7) and struck out a career-high four batters … Pitched 1.1 frames against Western Michigan (April 11) and fanned a pair … Registered an at-bat against Milwaukee on April 18.

2016: Made 19 appearances with a 8.71 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched ... Registered a 6.11 ERA as a reliever and threw seven innings of scoreless relief ... Threw an inning of scoreless relief against Pacific (2/27)...Threw season-high 2.2 innings against Butler (3/5) ... Made first start of the season at UIC (3/8) ... Notched two strikeouts in second start of the season at Miami (3/23) ... Tossed an inning of scoreless relief with two strikeouts at Chicago State (4/19) ... Made two straight appearances throwing scoreless innings against Indiana and UIC (5/1-5/4) ... Threw an inning of scoreless relief against Rutgers (5/21).

2015: Appeared in seven contests … Pitched a total of 5.2 innings and struck out two over the course of his freshman season … Pitched a scoreless inning and struck out one against Michigan (5/8) … Recorded a shutout inning against the Kansas Jayhawks (5/5) … Threw a scoreless sixth inning against Georgetown (3/8).

High School: Two-year letterwinner at Mount Carmel ... Helped lead the Caravan to a 2013 Illinois High School Association 4A state championship ... Won combined 10 games and posted a 2.89 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 82.2 IP as a junior and senior ... 2014 Perfect Game All-Central Region honorable mention ... Threw a no-hitter as a freshman in 2011 against Whitney Young ... Four-year starter and team captain for Caravan hockey team ... 2014 Illinois State Scholar ... National Honor Society member.

Personal: Born Richard James Fordon on 5/19/96 ... Son of Rich and Julie Fordon ... Father played college football at Western Michigan and mother ran track in college ... Attended same high school as former NFL All-Pros Donovan McNabb and Simeon Rice ... Chose Northwestern over Indiana, Illinois State and others ... Majoring in Economics.