Softball Garners 12 Postseason Atlantic 10 Honors

League Release | Awards List

Newport News, Va. – The Fordham softball team has earned 12 postseason Atlantic 10 honors, the league announced Wednesday morning, including head coach Bridget Orchard's second consecutive and seventh overall Coach of the Year award and Lauren Quense's Co-Pitcher of the Year accolade. The 12 awards are the second-most in school history, behind last year's total of 13.
 
The Rams matched a program-record with five All-Conference First Team selections, and also garnered one second-team selection, three All-Rookie honorees, and one All-Academic nod.
 
"I'm very proud and excited for our players who were selected for awards," Coach Orchard remarked, "They have put in so much hard work and effort this year. It is awesome to see it pay off and for them to be recognized."
 
Coach Orchard added her seventh Coach of the Year award after leading Fordham to a 42-14 overall record and an 18-5 record in conference play, tying last year's total for most wins in the program's history. The team's 42 wins is tied for second-most in school history and includes victories over #21 Baylor to open the season and seven other wins against Power Five conference opponents, plus a top-50 RPI throughout the second half of the season that reached as high as 35. On two occasions, the Rams received votes in the NFCA/USA Today national poll.
 
"I am honored to receive Coach of the Year, mostly because it is voted on by my peers," Orchard said, "It means a lot that the A-10 coaches selected me with every team having such great seasons."
 
A Second-Team selection a year ago, Quense led the Atlantic 10 with 20 wins, becoming the fifth Ram to ever reach the milestone, and won six Pitcher of the Week awards throughout the season. The senior began her campaign with a 1-0 shutout of then-ranked #21 Baylor and also picked up wins over top-50 programs Tulsa, Northwestern, and Saint Francis (Pa.). The Langhorne, Pa. native also became the fifth Ram to throw a no-hitter in program history, blanking Bryant over five innings on February 17. Quense won all six starts to begin the season and entered league play with a 13-3 record, now up to 20-8. She leads the conference in wins (20), appearances (34), and starts (32), is second in innings pitched (182.2), and third with a 2.07 ERA.
 
"Q has been a warrior all year and I loved seeing her get after it this year. She has been a great role model for the freshman and they all help each other. Her energy and positive attitude is contagious. I'm very excited and proud of her for this award, it is so well deserved!"
 
Of 12 First Team spots, the Rams took up five, including Quense, first baseman Madison Shaw, second baseman Jessica Hughes, outfielder Sydney Canessa, and designated player Skylar Johnston.
 
Shaw finished runner-up in the A-10 Player of the Year voting and is coming off a fantastic regular season that saw her slash .377/.467/.735 with 15 home runs and 69 RBIs, the latter of which is second in school history. The junior drove in at least one teammate in 29 of 56 games and notched 20 multi-RBI games, a program-record since the stat was first tracked a decade ago. Shaw tallied 24 extra-base hits and walked more (28) than she struck out (25). The junior made 55 starts with one other pinch-hit appearance in which she struck the walk-off solo home run in the seventh inning of a win over CSUN all the way back in early February. The Raynham, Mass. native ranks fourth among all Division I players in RBIs, 10^th with five sacrifice flies, 23^rd with her 15 round-trippers, 25^th with 119 total bases, and 46^th with her .735 slugging percentage. Shaw finished top-five in the league in all the above stats and was fourth in batting average. The junior has a knack for the clutch, with eight go-ahead or game-winning hits, and is batting .406 with runners in scoring position, plus .667 (8-for-12) with the bases loaded , and a blistering .870 (20-for-23) with a runner on third and less than two outs. She was named A-10 Player of the Week on three occasions and garnered NFCA honorable mention earlier in the season after tallying six home runs and 17 RBI across five contests at the N.C. State Invitational.
 
Last year's A-10 Rookie of the Year, Hughes one-upped her freshman season with a tremendous sophomore campaign, slashing .392/.533/.734, with 25 extra-base hits, a program-record 49 walks, and 23 steals. The Sewell, N.J. native also lead the team and conference with 58 runs scored and a school-record .533 on-base percentage. Hughes finished second with five triples, third with 11 home runs, and fourth with 62 hits. The sophomore started all 54 contests she was available for. She's the first Ram to carry an on-base percentage north of .500 and is already making her way up a couple all-time school lists, now tops with an even .500 OBP, fourth all-time with 59 stolen bases, sixth with 86 walks, and is on the cusp of joining the top-10 for runs scored. She was named A-10 Player of the Week twice.
 
Canessa's honor is the fourth of her career and is her third First Team selection. The senior has continued to be one of the most durable and consistent players in Fordham history, now having started 230 consecutive contests since stepping foot in the Bronx and finds herself among the top-10 of an astounding 15 all-time records, including recently becoming the school's all-time leader with 187 runs scored. Canessa slashed .345/.461/.517 this season with 60 hits, 48 runs scored, a team-leading 12 doubles, six home runs, and 35 RBI, while again proving to be one of the toughest hitters in the country to strikeout, with just nine in 174 at bats, an average of once every 19.3 at bats, which ranks 76^th in the nation. Earlier this season, she became the sixth Ram to reach 200 career hits, now sitting fourth with 241, and the third player to tally 100 walks. She has continued to display her near flawless ability in centerfield, committing zero errors this season for the second time in her career, and has made just six in her four years.
 
Johnston earned her First Team nod with a sensational performance after the calendar flipped to conference play, slashing .491/.554/.614, with a team-high 28 hits and seven doubles, plus 16 RBIs and eight walks to just three strikeouts in 57 at bats. The Virginia Beach, Va. native earned two Rookie of the Week nods during the season and led the conference in batting average during league play and was third in on-base percentage. She also played a solid third base in the wake of Amy Van Hoven's injury although she was listed at DP on the awards ballot.
 
Lindsay Mayer, last year's A-10 Player of the Year, earned her third straight All-Conference nod with her Second Team selection. Mayer slashed .347/.431/.532 while splitting time between third base and shortstop this season. The senior finished third on the team with 60 hits, seven home runs, and 38 RBIs, and second with 50 runs scored and 11 doubles. Mayer also finished with nearly double as many walks and strikeouts, 28 to 14, respectively.
 
The Rams placed three freshmen on the All-Rookie team for the first time in the program's history, with Johnston, Madison Aughinbaugh, and Taylor Stocks garnering recognition.
 
Aughinbaugh was thrown right into the fire this year, making her first collegiate start against #10 Arizona, something the freshman relished, and continued to improve with every start, also becoming a key rotational piece in right field and at the plate, as well. Aughinbaugh finished with a terrific 2.16 ERA across 29 appearances, 19 starts, with 10 complete games, three shutouts, and an overall 16-5 record. Aughinbaugh allowed 107 hits in 123.0 innings and struck out 81. At the dish, the Port Tobacco, Md. native hit .294 with 25 hits, 17 runs scored, and was fourth on the team with 10 stolen bases. She was in the circle when the Rams clinched the regular season title, tossed a five-inning one-hitter against La Salle this past weekend, with no walks allowed and seven strikeouts.
 
Stocks led the conference with a 1.62 ERA across 26 appearances, five starts, and 56.0 innings. The Bunker Hill, W.Va. native tallied a 6-1 record and the team's only save, while striking out 31 and holding opponents to a .174 batting average. The freshman ranked 46^th in Division I with just 4.38 hits allowed per seven innings.
 
Canessa was selected to the A-10 All-Academic team, as well, for a second year in a row. She was recently named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team alongside Hughes and Quense. The senior holds a 3.50 GPA as a Finance major.
 
The Rams will play Saint Louis tomorrow at noon. That game will be streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network.