Box Score March 13, 2010
ATLANTA - It was another two-win day for Fordham softball as the Rams take down Georgia State and Georgia Tech in the first day of the Springhill Suites Buckehead Classic. Fordham defeated Georgia State , 5-1, in the afternoon game then squeezed out their second upset victory of the season over No. 8/11 Georgia Tech in an eight-innings, 2-1 success in the night cap at Mewborn Field.
For the Rams, the victory over No. 8/11 Georgia Tech was their second win over a Top 25 team this season, and fourth-ever in school history.
Senior Erin Fisher (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) hit the game-winning RBI single down the left field line to score rookie Jamie LaBovick (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain ) for the extra-inning victory over the ranked tournament hosts, the Yellow Jackets.
Fisher had two RBI in the game, three for the day, as she also hit in the first run for Fordham against Georgia Tech.
With the win, Fordham advances to 12-4 overall on the season.
Fordham scored first in the night game against Georgia Tech, right in the first inning. With one out, sophomore Lindsey Kay Bright (Federal Way, Wash./Decatur) singled to center field, then made her way to third base on an outfield error. Fisher singled to the pitcher allowing Bright to score to put Fordham ahead of Georgia Tech, 1-0.
Georgia Tech finally answered in the top of the fourth inning, with a leadoff homerun by secondbaseman Jen Yee. The Yellow Jackets threatened again in the inning as Kelly Eppinger, who pinch ran for pitcher Hope Rush, made her way around the bases to third, with no outs on the scoreboard. Eppinger was left on as the Rams' sophomore pitcher Jen Mineau (Schaghticoke, N.Y./Hoosic Valley Central) struck out the next batter for one out and pitched the next two batters into two infield pop ups to get the Rams' out of the inning.
The teams were scoreless for the rest of regulation as the game had to go into extr a innings. The Yellow Jackets threatened with bases loaded in the eighth off a hit and two walks. Mineau got them out of the inning with a final strike out before Fisher put it away with her walk-off single.
The Rams outhit the Yellow Jackets 9-2. Bright was 2-for-3, and Fisher was 2-for-4.
Mineau got the win for Fordham, her tenth as she extends her record to 10-1. Mineau struck out 13 batters out of 32 faced.
In the afternoon game against Georgia State, Fordham got on the board early with three runs in the first inning. LaBovick got Fordham on the board as she bombed a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence, plating two. Later in the inning, junior Beckah Wiggins (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) singled scoring Fisher.
A solo homer by Fisher made the Rams' lead, 4-0, while a Wiggins solo homer in the seventh off relief pitcher Elizabeth Thomas stretched the lead to 5-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, GSU finally got on the board with a run off a Fordham fielding error, that scored Cassie Boese but the game ended in the next at-bat with strikeout to end the contest.
Junior Chelsea Plimpton (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville South/St. John's) (1-2) got her first win of the season, allowing just three hits in five innings of work. Plimpton faced 18 batters and struck out seven. Mineau came in in the fifth inning to finish off for Plimpton. Mineau struck out four and only allowed one hit.
Junior leadoff batter Jocelyn Dearborn (New Milford, Pa./Blue Ridge) was 2-for-3 and Wiggins was 2-for-4. LaBovick tallied two RBI.
The Rams will continue with the Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic on Sunday with a rematch against Georgia State at 4 p.m. and the final game against Mercer at 6:30 p.m.
