Box Score March 30, 2008
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
The Fordham bats were firing on all cylinders on Sunday as the Rams pounded out 24 hits in an Atlantic 10 doubleheader sweep of Saint Louis, collecting 13 hits in the first game in a 9-1 win in six innings, and then completing the sweep with 11 hits, seven of those in an eight-run sixth, in a 9-4 win in the nightcap.
With the wins, the Rams improve to 14-17 overall, 4-2 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis falls to 12-18-1 overall, 3-3 in the conference.
Senior Allison Twarowski reached two career milestones in her last at bat of the second game when she connected on a two-run double in the sixth that broke a 4-4 tie. The hit was her fourth of the day and brought her career total to 218, tying her with Krystle Henry (2003-07) for the Fordham all-time record while the double was the 39th of her career, tying her with Cathy Andrade (1992-96) as the Fordham all-time leader.
In the first game, Fordham used the strong pitching of Beckah Wiggins, who allowed just one hit over the first five innings, and three hits each from Twarowski and Mary Beth Puccio for the 9-1 win.
Fordham took a 3-0 lead in the third as Jessica Weckenman and Stephanie Mott led off with back-to-back infield singles and Twarowski followed with another single to load the bases. After Weckenman was forced at the plate on a Melissa Andrews fielder's choice, Puccio singled to bring in Andrews with the first run of the game. Twarowski then came in to score when the Saint Louis third baseman couldn't handle an Allison Storc ground ball and Andrews would score when the next hitter, Jocelyn Dearborn, popped out to first.
The Rams picked up three more runs in the fourth when Samantha Pellechio led off reaching second on an error and Weckenman followed with a double that the Saint Louis left fielder lost in the sun to move Pellechio to third. One out later, Twarowski plated Pellechio with a ground out and Weckenman scored when Andrews reached on a throwing error, with Andrews going all the way to third on the play. Puccio followed with a single to plate Andrews and give Fordham a 6-0 lead.
The Billikens put a run on the board in the sixth as Nicole Ayres came on to relieve Wiggins to start the inning and walked Rachel O'Connell, who was erased on a Brittany Schmidt fielder's choice. A walk to Caitlin Trevillyan put runners on first and second and, one out later, the runners moved up on a wild pitch. Pinch runner Morgan Finn then scored when Rachel Heet reached on an error.
But Fordham put the game away with three runs in the home half of the inning. Twarowski, Andrews and Puccio led off the inning with consecutive singles to load the bases and, one out later, Dearborn and Megan Waldron singled to bring in Twarowski and Andrews, respectively. One out later, Weckenman was hit by a pitch to force in the third run of the inning to invoke the mercy rule.
Wiggins (5-5) struck out three to pick up the win for the Rams while Puccio and Dearborn each drove in a pair of runs.
In the nightcap, the game started out as a pitcher's dual with the game scoreless over the first four innings. But Saint Louis struck for a pair of runs in the top of the fifth when Finn and O'Connell led off with back-to-back singles and, one out later, Kristin Nicoletti singled to load the bases. A Heet single brought in Finn with the first run of the game and later in the inning, Wiggins, who had come on in relief of Twarowski during the frame, walked Shana Richard with the bases loaded to force in the second run.
The Rams cut the deficit to one, 2-1, with a run in the bottom of the inning when Pellechio led off with a triple and scored later in the frame on a Mott fielder's choice.
The Billikens then extended the lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the sixth on RBI singles from Trevillyan and Heet, before the Rams exploded for eight runs in the bottom the inning to take a commanding 9-4 lead. Puccio led off the Fordham sixth with a single and Storc followed with her fourth home run of the season to make it a 4-3 game. Erin Kelly then came on in relief of Saint Louis starter Stacy Gillette, and, one out later, hit Waldron and allowed a single to Pellechio, with Waldron moving to third on the play and Pellechio taking second on the throw. A Weckenman single delivered Waldron to knot the game at four with Pellechio moving to third. After Weckenman stole second, Mott grounded out for the second out of the inning. But Twarowski connected on a double to left field to bring in the two runners and give Fordham a 6-4 lead. An Andrews single delivered Twarowski and Andrews came around to score on a Puccio single. Storc plated Puccio with the final run of the inning with a double.
Wiggins (6-5) earned the win in relief for Fordham, throwing two and one-third innings of two-hit ball, striking out three while Storc finished with three hits and three RBI and Pellechio added three hits and two runs.
The Rams will next be in action on Wednesday, April 2nd, as they host Stony Brook for a single game on Bahoshy Field beginning at 3:00 p.m.
