Softball Sweeps Dayton on Senior Day

Highlights | Doubleheader Photo Gallery | Senior Day Ceremony

Bronx, N.Y. – It was a senior day to remember at Bahoshy Field on Saturday afternoon, with the Fordham softball team sweeping Dayton and six graduating Rams honored between contests in front of numerous friends, family, and fans. With the wins, the Rams improve to 38-13 on the year and 13-5 in Atlantic 10 play, taking a step towards first place and a regular season championship, while the Flyers fall to 27-23 and 11-8, respectively.
 
You can click through the photo gallery above of today's senior day ceremony, honoring Sydney Canessa, Stephanie Ferri, Lindsay Mayer, Lauren Quense, Amy Van Hoven, and Ally Vergona.
 
Game one was a duel between two of the A-10's top pitchers, Quense and Dayton's Manda Cash, last year's Pitcher of the Year, until the Rams top of the order rallied for a walk-off 2-1 victory in game one.
 
Stephanie Ferri pinch hit to lead off the inning and nearly had a booming hit drop it for a double but a terrific play by center fielder Jaclyn Kweder took the chance away. Dayton head coach Cara LaPlaca opted to bring in Gabrielle Snyder from right field to relieve Cash against Canessa, but the senior walked her counterpart on four pitches. Facing lefty Jessica Hughes, LaPlaca brought Cash back to the circle, but Hughes ripped a single through the right side as Canessa sprinted to third. Madison Shaw then took a 1-2 offering and drove it down the right field line, scoring both, for the win.
 
Prior to that, the Rams had threatened against Cash several times, with runners in scoring position in all but two frames. Quense went the distance for the 14^th time this season, allowing nine hits and one run, on a fourth-inning walk with the bases loaded, with four strikeouts, and picked up her 19^th win of the year with some help from her teammates.
 
Game two provided a scoring punch that was lacking throughout game one, although all the offense took place in the first three innings before the bats went quiet. The Flyers went ahead in the first frame, on a bases loaded RBI single by Kyle Davidson off Madison Aughinbaugh, before a caught stealing at second led to a rundown between third and home for a rare inning-ending double play that didn't involve the batter.
 
Fordham evened  things up with a Lindsay Mayer bases loaded walk, the third of the first inning against Snyder. The Flyers got to Aughinbaugh for two more in the second, on two two-out RBI singles, although the Rams were saved with an out on the basepaths by Lisa Tassi for colliding with Mayer at short. Aughinbaugh singled and stole second in the bottom half of the inning but was left stranded. However, the Rams broke through in the third with a clutch two-out three-run bomb off the bat of Quense to deep right center field, scoring Mayer and Maria Trivelpiece, who was pinch running for Skylar Johnston.
 
From that point on, the opposing pitching staffs were in control, cruising through four scoreless frames. Jessica Weaver and Jessica Gilliam relieved Snyder to throw three one-hit innings, while Aughinbaugh pitched another frame before giving way to Taylor Stocks, who tallied the team's first save of the year with three scoreless frames, giving up just two singles and a walk to lower her season ERA below 1.75.
 
Johnston led the way for a team-high four hits on the day, enjoying the team's lone multi-hit game against Cash in game one, going 3-for-3 with a double. Similarly, in game two, Aughinbaugh was the lone Ram with more than one hit, finishing with two singles plus a walk. The Rams drew six walks in game two, as well.
 
Sunday's series finale will begin at 12 p.m.