Bronx, N.Y. – For the second time in as many days,
Madison Shaw and the Fordham softball team walked off winners in the seventh inning against Dayton, completing the series sweep with an identical 2-1 score on Sunday afternoon at Bahoshy Field. With the win, the Rams improve to 39-13 on the year and 15-5 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Flyers fall to 27-24 and 11-9, respectively. The win solidifies Fordham's standing atop the league heading into the final weekend.
The Rams have won four straight and eight of their last nine dating back to the final game of the Massachusetts series.
Much like Saturday's series opener,
Lauren Quense and Dayton's Manda Cash were locked in a pitcher's duel. Unlike Saturday, the scoring took place early, with each team scoring once in the first inning, before Shaw's walk-off bases loaded single.
Quense needed just five pitches to get the first two outs in the opening frame but let up a two-out solo jack by Katie Ryan to open the scoring. The senior bounced back with a swinging strikeout of Kyle Davidson after a lengthy battle. Fordham scored via the scorching hot
Skylar Johnston, who delivered a two-out single to left to score
Jessica Hughes, who had walked on four pitches and stolen second.
Quense and Cash traded zeroes after that, with the Flyers putting at least one runner on in all but the fifth inning, and the Rams doing the same in every inning thereafter, but both teams would continue to strand runners.
Both teams nearly scored in the sixth inning. First, Gabrielle Snyder reached on an error by Shaw at first to lead off the frame before Ryan singled up the middle. Davidson sacrificed the pair over but the inning ended when Lisa Tassi flied out to left and
Chelsea Skrepenak gunned Snyder out at the plate. Cash was replaced by Jessica Weaver to start the bottom half of the inning and, like Dayton just minutes before, Johnston reached on an error to lead off.
Lindsay Mayer smoked a double to the left centerfield gap, moving Johnston to third, but the freshman thought the ball had flown past the third baseman and left the bag, getting tagged out right after. Quense walked but Vergona struck out swinging and
Stephanie Ferri grounded into a fielder's choice.
The Flyers again came close in the seventh, as Hannah DeSalvo was hit by the first pitch she saw and stealing second to get into scoring position with one out. Pinch hitter Ellie Ziegler singled to left to put runners on the corners but Julia Blarr, pinch hitting for Mallory Kimmel, grounded out to third. With runners on second and third and the top of the order coming up, head coach
Bridget Orchard called for
Taylor Stocks out of the bullpen, and the freshman delivered with a four-pitch strikeout of Kailee Budicin.
Fordham got to Weaver quickly in the seventh, with
Madison Aughinbaugh and
Sydney Canessa each singling to start the frame. Weaver was replaced by Jessica Gilliam, who gave up two straight singles to end the contest. Hughes laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases before Shaw came up with the dramatic hit, an easy single to shallow right field to score Aughinbaugh. Shaw moved into second place all-time in a single season with her two RBIs yesterday and is now just nine shy of Elise Fortier's tally of 73 in 2014.
Canessa, Johnston, and Aughinbaugh each picked up two hits in three trips to the plate.
Stocks picks up win number five on the season and sees her ERA lowered to 1.68, while Quense's ERA has returned below two, now at 1.99 for the year, although she narrowly missed out on her 20
th victory.
Fordham is now batting .337 as a team in conference play, with Johnston leading the way with a red-hot .500 average (25-for-50) and 16 RBI across 18 games.
The Rams host St. John's on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Bahoshy Field in the team's home finale before heading to Philadelphia for a three-game series at La Salle.
