Softball Lands Three On First Team NFCA All-Region, Six Total

Release

Lexington, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) today announced its 2017 All-Region honorees and the Fordham softball team placed six among the three All-Mid Atlantic Region teams, including three First Team selections. The six honorees are the third-highest in Division I, alongside Florida State (Southeast), Washington (Pacific), Texas A&M (South), and San Diego State (West). Arizona (West) and James Madison (Northeast) each placed eight.
 
Jessica Hughes, Lauren Quense, and Madi Shaw were named to the First Team, Sydney Canessa earned Second Team recognition, and Madie Aughinbaugh and Lindsay Mayer were picked for the Third Team.
 
Hughes, Quense, and Shaw are now eligible for All-America selection, which will be announced by the NFCA at 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 31.
 
Hughes has followed up last year's A-10 Rookie of the Year campaign with her second straight NFCA honor and first First Team selection, after garnering Third Team recognition a year ago. The sophomore has enjoyed a tremendous follow-up season by slashing .384/.524/.715 with 29 extra-base hits and setting the single season records for runs scored, with 63, and walks, with 52. She will be the first Ram to ever finish a year with an on-base percentage north of .500 and her .494 career mark currently ranks first all-time. Hughes added 23 stolen bases to last year's record-setting 36 to currently sit fourth all-time, with 59, in school history, and already ranks sixth with 89 walks. Her 66 hits are second on the team and ranks just outside the top-10 in a single season at Fordham, while her six triples and 11 home runs rank first and third, respectively, in the Atlantic 10. She has started all 58 contests she's been available for this season. Hughes also earned First Team All-Conference and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and was named to the All-A-10 Championship team.
 
Quense has been a large reason for the team's success this season as the Rams' go-to ace this season, tallying career-best numbers across the board, including a 22-9 record, 35 starts, 18 complete games, and a 2.06 ERA. The senior has notched 123 strikeouts in 203.2 innings and has entered the top-five of several major pitching records in school history this year, including becoming the seventh Ram to reach 40 career victories. Quense also earned First Team All-Conference and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week six times, and earned All-Championship accolades after starting and going the distance in three of the Rams' four games.
 
Shaw has kept up her torrid pace all season long and has found another gear in the postseason, batting .615 at last weekend's A-10 Championship en route to an All-Championship selection. The junior, a Second Team NFCA honoree a year ago, is slashing .394/.481/.743 on the season with a team-high 15 home runs, 73 RBIs, 69 hits, 130 total bases, and the .743 slugging percentage. Shaw has started 59 of 60 contests this year and provided the game-winning pinch-hit solo blast in the seventh inning against CSUN in the fourth game of the year in her lone non-start. Shaw's 73 RBIs are tied with Elise Fortier (2013) for the single season program record and ranks fourth in the country, while her home run tally of 15 ranks within the top-25 and top-five all-time at Fordham. She's walked (30) more than she's struck out (27) and will likely finish with the third-highest single season slugging percentage in program history. Her .369 career batting average has also recently overtaken Jess Hughes for the all-time lead, the latter sitting second at .367. Shaw was named A-10 Player of the Week on three occasions, garnered First Team All-Conference honors, and finished runner-up in the Player of the Year voting.
 
Canessa's NFCA Second Team honor is her second straight as the senior continues to be one of Fordham's most consistent and durable performers at the plate and in the field in the program's history. The Wall, N.J. native is slashing .344/.457/.529 on the year with seven home runs, 39 RBIs, 65 hits, 53 runs scored, a team-high 14 doubles, and 37 walks to just nine strikeouts, plus 11 stolen bases, across 189 at-bats. Serving as the team's primary leadoff hitter for most of the season, Canessa has reached 63 hits for the third consecutive year and 44 runs scored for the fourth straight season, tallying more than 50 for the first time. Her runs, hits, doubles, and walks are all new personal-bests, as is her .457 on-base percentage, while matching last year's output of stolen bases. She holds a perfect fielding percentage in 90 chances as a senior, the second time she's accomplished the feat in the Bronx, along with her sophomore campaign, and has made just six in her career. Perhaps most impressively, Canessa has never missed an inning in her time at Fordham, playing every inning of all 234 contests since arriving on campus. She earned First Team All-Conference, All-Academic, and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, and was selected A-10 Player of the Week once. She is in the top-10 of 15 different all-time records at Fordham, is in the top-five of most of them, and recently broke the record for career runs scored, with 192. She also recently set the single-game record for hits, going 6-for-6 at St. Bonaventure on April 19.
 
Aughinbaugh earns Third Team honors after a terrific two-way performance this year, filling holes in the circle and in the field as a true freshman, being selected as a pitcher/utility with the NFCA. The Port Tobacco, Md. native was thrown right into the fire, making her first collegiate start at #10 Arizona in the season's second contest, and has continued to improve with every start this year, culminating in Sunday afternoon's brilliant performance in the do-or-die Championship game two against Massachusetts. Aughinbaugh allowed a first-inning unearned run and allowed 13 total hits, including one in all but one frame, but held the Minutewomen off the board over the next eight innings until she punched the game-winning double to right field to secure the team's fifth straight conference title. The freshman also scored from first in the fifth inning on Canessa's clutch RBI double to tie the game up at one-apiece. Aughinbaugh currently holds a 2.02 ERA and 17-5 record across 30 appearances and 20 starts, tossing 11 complete games and three shutouts, while striking out 86 across 132 innings, and allowing just 31 extra-base hits. She earned two Rookie of the Week honors, one Pitcher of the Week selection, and was named to this year's A-10 All-Rookie squad. At the dish, Aughinbaugh held a .286 average across 36 appearances and 32 starts, tallying 28 hits, 20 runs, and 12 RBIs, while finishing fourth with 10 steals.
 
Mayer's Third Team accolade is her second straight and comes after senior slashed .342/.421/.513 this year while splitting time between third base and shortstop. Like Canessa, Mayer has started in every contest since transferring to Fordham from Virginia after her freshman season, now with 178 straight. Mayer has tallied 64 hits, 50 runs, 11 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBIs, and has walked (25) more than she's struck out (16). Including her time with the Cavaliers, Mayer has reached 200 career hits and is nearing the same mark in just three years at Fordham, currently at 185 and nine shy of the top-10. The hits, runs, and walks are all personal-bests. Mayer earned Second Team All-Conference this year plus one Player of the Week honor.
 
The Rams play at #16/17 Utah tonight in their first game of the Salt Lake City Regional, to be broadcast live on ESPN3.