Box Score April 19, 2009
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Bronx, N.Y. - On a nice, sunny day in the Bronx, the Fordham softball team celebrated Senior Day on Sunday, and it was stellar day for the senior class, as they accounted for 12 of the Rams' 23 hits on the day, as Fordham swept an Atlantic 10 doubleheader from the Dayton Flyers by scores of 8-0 in six innings and 7-1.
With the sweep, Fordham's first since April 4th, the Rams improved to 31-17 overall, 10-4 in the Atlantic 10, while Dayton fell to 9-30 overall, 5-9 in the league. It also marked the seventh straight season that Fordham has won at least 30 games.
In game one, Fordham senior Melissa Andrews was 4-for-4 at the plate, while senior Jessica Weckenman hit a three-run home run, as the Rams shut out the Flyers, 8-0, in six innings.
Fordham opened the scoring in the first, as Andrews hit a double down the left field line, was sacrificed to third, and scored on a ground ball by Mary Beth Puccio.
In the second, Fordham increased the lead to 4-0 off the bat of Weckenman. After a lead off single by Jocelyn Dearborn, Meghan Shager hit a ground ball to third that the throw went wide of second, leaving runners at first and second. Weckenman then cracked a three-run home run to left field, her third of the season.
After Fordham made it 5-0 in the third, Fordham tacked on two runs in the fourth on a pair of Dayton errors to go ahead by a 7-0 count.
The Rams then invoked the run rule in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI-single up the middle by Meghan Shager, scoring Puccio, who had singled and moved to second on an error.
Jen Mineau and Chelsea Plimpton combined for the six-hit shutout in the circle for Fordham. Mineau threw the first four innings to record the win, allowing six hits and striking out six. Plimpton threw the final two innings without allowing a hit. At the plate, Andrews was 4-for-4 with two runs scored, while Puccio, Dearborn, and Shager each had a pair of hits.
In game two, Andrews and Dearborn each had three hits, as Fordham completed the sweep with a 7-1 victory.
Dayton scratched across the first run of the game in the first on two walks and an RBI-single by Emily Stegeman.
The Rams came right back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Andrews and Lindsey Kay Bright led off with back-to-back singles, and advanced on a ground out. Andrews then scored on an RBI-ground out by Samantha Pellechio, while Bright scored on an RBI-single by Dearborn.
Fordham made it 3-1 in the third, as Dearborn connected for a solo home run to right, her seventh of the season. The Rams made it 6-1 in the fourth, as they once again took advantage of two Dayton errors, while also getting an RBI-single from Sarah Campbell.
Fordham closed out the scoring in the sixth, as Andrews hit a one-out double, moved to third on an bunt single by Bright, and scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
Mineau (15-9) picked up her second win of the day, as she went five innings, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts, while Plimpton pitched two innings of one-hit relief with two strikeouts. Andrews finished 3-for-4 at the dish with a pair of runs scored, while Dearborn was 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and two RBI.
In addition to Senior Day ceremonies that were held between games to honor current Rams, Fordham honored its past prior to the game, as the team continued their 25th anniversary celebration, recognizing the vast achievements of the previous 24 varsity seasons and club teams that came prior to 1985, whose hard work and dedication made a varsity program viable. To open the game, Suzanne (Pandullo) Ceravolo '85, who had the first RBI and multi-hit game in team history, and Patricia Miller '85, who was the Rams' starting pitcher in the first varsity game, threw out the ceremonial first pitches today, while Susanne Farrell '85, a catcher in that first season, and Jeanne (McNally) Riley '87, the Rams' starting leftfielder in that first varsity game, caught today's ceremonial first pitches.
The Fordham softball team will next be in action on Friday, April 24th, as they play at Saint Louis University for the first of a two-game Atlantic 10 series, beginning at 6:00 PM Eastern.
