Aughinbaugh, Rauch Named NFCA All-Region

NFCA Release

Lexington, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced its All-Region teams on Thursday morning and the Fordham softball team placed two in the Mid-Atlantic Region: freshman Paige Rauch garnered First Team recognition as utility/pitcher, while Madie Aughinbaugh earned Third Team honors. Both accolades are firsts for the duo. It is the 11^th straight year that Fordham has placed at least one on an All-Region team and the eighth time in the past nine seasons there's been at least one on the First Team.
 
"I am so proud of Madie and Paige," head coach Bridget Orchard said, "They have worked extremely hard and are very deserving of their awards."
 
Rauch was recently named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and became the first student-athlete to garner First Team All-Conference honors as both a pitcher and a position player. The Windsor, N.Y. native slashed .311/.454/.714 on the year while leading the squad with 16 home runs, 44 runs driven in, 51 runs scored, 40 walks, and five triples, while also pacing the rotation with a 1.55 ERA over 108.1 innings. Rauch made 23 appearances in the circle, making 14 starts, and earned a 14-2 record with 10 complete games, two shutouts, and also two saves, her most recent coming in the A-10 Championship final over Massachusetts.
 
In conference play, Rauch co-led the team with eight home runs and drove in a team-high 20 while scoring 19 times and walking 14 times. In the circle, Rauch went 8-1 over 10 appearances and seven starts with a 1.06 ERA over 52.2 innings. She was named A-10 Rookie of the Week four times. Rauch is the first Ram since Rachel Gillen in 2015 to be named to the First Team as a UTIL/Pitcher, the year that Gillen became the first student-athlete to garner All-Conference honors in the circle and in the field, doing so as a pitcher with the First Team and a DP on the Second Team.
 
Aughinbaugh, fresh off being named the A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player, earns Third Team honors as a pitcher after leading the Fordham rotation with 153.0 innings pitched and a 2.75 ERA, tallying a 16-7 record over 33 appearances and 25 starts with 15 complete games, eight shutouts, and a save. Aughinbaugh turned it up once Atlantic 10 play began, leading the league with a 0.98 ERA over 12 appearances, 10 starts, and 64.0 innings. The sophomore recorded a 9-1 record with eight complete games and five shutouts.
 
The Port Tobacco, Md. native earned First Team All-Conference honors, and was a two-time Pitcher of the Week, but was also solid at the plate, hitting .253 with three home runs, 25 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases.
 
The Rams begin the Baton Rouge Regional against the hosts, #11 LSU, on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. EST.