Newport News, Va. – The 2017 softball season is only a week old but the Fordham softball team has already picked up its first piece of hardware: senior
Lauren Quense was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week, the league announced on Monday afternoon, after picking up three wins in three tries against three top-35 opponents, including a complete game shutout against #21 Baylor in the season opener. The award is Quense's fourth weekly A-10 award and third Pitcher of the Week honor.
Fordham matched the program's best-ever start to a season with a 4-1 record at the Hillenbrand Invitational over the weekend and a large part of that was Quense's efforts in the circle. Against #21 Baylor, the 2016 All-Conference Second Teamer was locked in, hurling a complete game shutout with seven innings of five-hit ball with just one walk and four strikeouts. Against Tulsa, she struck out one more but allowed three runs in 6.1 innings, returning to the game in the seventh to put out the fire with the bases loaded and two outs. Against Northwestern in the weekend finale, Quense allowed 11 hits but limited the damage to three runs over seven complete innings while striking out a season-high seven.
Both Tulsa and Northwestern received votes in the initial Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Rams return to action with the Pirate Clash this weekend, hosted by East Carolina. Fordham will play five contests between Friday and Sunday.
