March 12, 2010
Game Notes (PDF) | Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic Tournament Page
BRONX, N.Y. - The Fordham softball team travels down the East Coast to Atlanta, Ga., to face three local Georgia schools in the Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic, hosted by No. 8/11 Georgia Tech on March 13-14 at Mewborn Field.
Fordham fans can follow all the action from Atlanta live, via GameTracker on FordhamSports.com or live video on RamblingWreck.com.
This is Fordham’s first time in the Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic and the first time playing Georgia State and Georgia Tech this decade. The last time the Rams played either team was in 1999. Fordham played Mercer in 2007.
Fordham is 10-4 after a weekend at the USF/Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. The Rams went 4-1 at the tournament, with their only loss coming on the final day to Ball State.
Fordham will face Georgia State twice, in the tournament opener on March 13 at 1:30 p.m. and on March 14 at 4 p.m. The Rams will play host school Georgia Tech on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude against Mercer on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
Georgia State (12-6) and No. 8/11 Georgia Tech (13-2) just faced each other in a Tuesday match up at Georgia State. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Panthers, 7-3. All three teams, including Mercer, were also at the Buzz Classic in Woodstock, Ga., from March 5-7,. GTech went 5-0, with two run-ruled games, and GSU went 3-2, with a key win over No. 23 Kentucky, 7-1 on March 5. Mercer also went 3-2 with losses to University of Missippi, 11-0 and Seton Hall, 6-2, who the Rams will host on Wednesday, March 17 at 3 p.m.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Georgia State Panthers have stayed local throughout the season as they started 2010 with their home tournament the Panther Invitational. The Panthers went 7-2 at their home-opening tournament facing Temple, Georgia Southern, Siena, Eastern Illinois, East Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois.
The Panthers went 3-2 at the Buzz Classic, where they had an important win over No. 23 Kentucky on March 5. GSU won 7-1, a freshman Paige Nowacki went 3-for-4 on the day providing a double in game one against North Florida and a solo homer and single in game two.
GSU is coming off two consecutive losses, including a mid-week loss to No. 8/11 Georgia Tech. The Panthers gave up five runs in the first inning before outscoring GTech, 3-2, over the remaining six innings.
Senior Lily Skelton, who was recently named CAA Player of the Week, leads the Panthers with a .378 batting average. She’s hit five home runs, with 17 RBI and a .811 slugging percentage.
As a team, the Panthers are hitting .284 and have outscored opponents 98-50. GSU has a new face at the circle with rookie pitcher McCall Langford. Langford is 4-1 with a 1.46 ERA in 33.2 innings pitched. The LaGrange, Ga., native pitched a complete game against No. 23 Kentucky, allowing only one run. Langford leads the GSU pitching staff in ERA.
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
No. 8/11 Georgia Tech is coming off a 7-3 victory over Georgia State in Panthersville, Ga., on Tuesday, March 9. The win marks a nine-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets, the host of this weekend’s tournament. Sophomore Jessica Sinclair hit a three-run homer in the first inning that helped GTech keep the lead as GSU threatened in the late innings.
GTech’s only losses were against then-No. 11 Cal (Feb. 21), 4-1, at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada and Nebraska (Feb. 26), 2-0, at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus Georgia.
Senior Jen Yee continues to lead the ACC in just about every offensive category as she has hit safely in 20 of 21 games this season. The North Delta, British Columbia native is batting .597 with 35 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, 13 home runs and 31 RBI. She is slugging 1.323 and has an on-base percentage of .691. Freshman Caitlin Jordan is second on the team with a .400 average, while freshman Hope Rush is second with eight home runs and 23 RBI. In the circle, Rush is 9-2 with a 1.51 ERA in 10 starts. Junior Kristen Adkins and sophomore Jessica Coan are both 5-0 and Coan is averaging over 1.5 strikeouts an inning.
The Yellow Jackets are batting .307 as a team and have hit 43 home runs in 21 games. They have a staff ERA of 1.71 and are holding team’s to a .212 average.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
Mercer is coming off a 6-2 loss against Seton Hall at the Buzz Classic on March 7. At the Classic, Mercer defeated Tennessee Tech, Rhode Island and James Madison, but lost to Seton Hall and University of Mississippi. The Bears were supposed to play Furman on Wednesday, March 10, but the game was postponed due to rain.
Against James Madison on March 7, head coach Mike Raynor, recorded his 100th win as head coach of the Bears. He’s the third coach in school history to reach the mark. Holly Oglesbee leads the Bears in the line up with a .358 batting average. Oglesbee has crossed the plate 12 times, with 24 hits, and 15 RBI. Sarah Santana ties Oglesbee in RBI with 15 as well. Santana has the third-best batting average with .323.
In the circle, Jenni Holtz is the team leader with a 1.98 ERA, a 9-4 record and 126 strikeouts. Kari Chambers is 3-1 in the circle with 2.10 ERA.
ABOUT THE SPRINGHILL SUITES BUCKHEAD CLASSIC
Four teams will play in a two-day round robin at the 2010 Springhill Suites Buckead Classic in Atlanta, Ga. Fordham is the only non-Georgia school in attendance this weekend, among Georgia Tech, Georgia State and Mercer.
Fordham is also the only team that did not participate in last weekend’s Buzz Classic, hosted by Georgia Tech last weekend.
Mississippi Valley State was also supposed to be at the tournament, but changed their schedule.
RAMS RECEIVING VOTES
For the second-straight week, Fordham received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll. In the most recent poll, released March 8, the Rams received two votes. In the March 2 poll, Fordham received its first vote of the season, and first vote in Fordham history.
The Rams are one of 12 teams that lie just outside the top 25 and are among four teams that received two votes with Tennessee-Martin, Kentucky and local opponent Hofstra.
The Washington Huskies received all 30 first-place votes to remain at No. 1. The Huskies have now held the No. 1 spot for five consecutive editions of the poll.
FORDHAM FAST FACTS
Junior infielder Samantha Pellechio continues to the lead the Rams at the plate with a .417 batting average and a .517 on base percentage. Classmate Jocelyn Dearborn totes the second-best batting average on the team (.348), but leads teh team in hits with 16. Dearborn has recorded eight runs, hit three doubles and two triples with seven RBI. Dearborn has had multiple hit games in five contests this year. Her current hitting streak is two games.
Senior Erin Fisher boasts a .615 slugging percentage in 14 games playe. She’s tallied nine runs and 12 hits and leads the team in home runs with three. She also leads the team in stolen bases, as she is a perfect 5-for-5 this season. Dearborn and sophomore Lindsey Kay Bright are also perfect in stolen bases, each with 4 bases in 4 attempts.
BY THE NUMBERS
Seven Fordham starters are hitting .281 and over for a combined 84 hits, 42 RBI, 41 runs and an average batting average 0.326.
RAMS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Fordham will face its third ranked opponent of the season with No. 8/11 Georgia Tech on Saturday. Georgia Tech is the highest ranked opponent the Rams have faced in two years.
Fordham faced two ranked teams at the Palm Springs Classic, opening with a 4-0, upset victory over then-No. 19/24 Texas A&M (Feb. 2). Fordham has defeated a ranked opponent only two other times in history, with both victories in the 2009 season. The Rams defeated No. 24/20 Massachusetts on May 3, 5-4, in the Rams’ final regular season contest. The victory came as the second game of a conference doubleheader, snapping Massachusetts’ regular season home winning streak of 54 games.
Fordham also defeated No. 12/14 Fresno State in the opening tournament of 2009, coincidently the Cathedral City Classic. The Rams defeated Bulldogs, 5-2 on Feb. 6, marking the program’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent.
The Rams faced No. 14/13 Cal in the Palm Spring Classic, but lost 5-2 (Feb. 26).
MINEAU -- TWO-TIME ATLANTIC 10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore pitcher Jen Mineau earned her second Atlantic 10 honor of the season as she was named Pitcher of the Week on March 1. She shared the pitching honor with Charlotte’s Emily Jeffrey. She earned the accolade after her three win, two shutout and 44 strikeout performance at the Palm Springs Classic.
She was also named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the week on Monday, Feb. 22 after her after her 31 strikeouts and two shut outs in the opening weekend of play at the Lancer Leadoff Invitational. Mineau pitched 13.0 innings.
In 2009, she earned four Atlantic 10 weekly awards, with two Pitcher of the Week and two Rookie of the Week accolades, two ECAC Pitcher of the Week wards and a Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week honor. Mineau was also a second team all-Atlantic 10 selection and was designated to the Atlantic 10 all-rookie team.
LABOVICK EARNS FIRST ROOKIE HONOR
Jamie LaBovick registered her first A-10 honor on March 1 after connecting for two home runs and four RBI at the Palm Springs Classic. She sealed the Rams’ 4-0 victory over #19/24 Texas A&M with a two-run home run, and later had a two-run homer in Fordham’s shutout win over UNLV to be named A-10 Rookie of the Week. LaBovick made two pitching appearances as well, with her best performance coming against #13/14 California, where she threw 2.1 innings of one-hit relief.
ON DECK
The Rams will host Seton Hall of the BIG EAST in a Saint Patrick’s Day doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday’s doubleheader is the home season-opener for Fordham who competed in four road tournament trips so far this season.
