Box Score April 3, 2010
Box Score - Game 1 | Box Score - Game 2 | Photo Gallery 
BRONX, N.Y. - The Fordham softball team lost 2-0, 3-2 to the No. 23 Massachusetts Minutewomen on Saturday at the Bahoshy Complex. The first game was a pitcher's show down as UMass sophomore pitcher Sara Plourde struck out the first nine batters she faced en route 18 strikeouts. Rookie Jamie LaBovick (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) played the spoiler in the first game, breaking up the no hitter with one out left in the ballgame.
Both starting pitcher's had something to prove, coming out with heat in the first game of the twin bill. Sophomore Jen Mineau (Schaghticoke, N.Y./Hoosic Valley Central) struck out a combined 22 batters in the doubleheader. Plourde recorded 29.
In the second game, senior Erin Fisher (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville) was able to get on base in all three at bats and was 2-for-3 with a run. Both hits were deep to left field. Down 3-0, the Rams rallied in the seventh, but the two-run homer by junior Beckah Wiggins (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna) was too little to late for Fordham.
With the losses, the Rams are 26-8 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic 10. Massachusetts advances to 21-7, 6-0 in the A-10.
Massachusetts 2, Fordham 0
It took three innings for either team to get a ball in play in the first game of the doubleheader. Mineau struck out six of the first eight batters she faced until UMass's shortstop Whitney Williams hit a double to centerfield. Another strikeout later, the Minutewomen were able to get a run on the board as secondbaseman Kyllie Magill doubled to right field, scoring Jordan Storro, who pinch ran for Williams at second. A pop fly to Wiggins at second base ended the inning for the Rams, but UMass had taken a 1-0 lead.
Mineau struck out two more in the fourth inning, before LaBovick put the inning away with a caught foul ball at the fence. In the bottom of the fourth, junior Jocelyn Dearborn (New Milford, Pa./Blue Ridge) was able to put the ball in play for the Rams, but it was caught by the UMass right fielder near the wall.
UMass was able to score one more in the sixth inning, as Katie Bettincourt sent a solo homerun over the high left field netting. The homer was with two outs and two strikes on the batter. Mineau had already put away the first two batters of the inning with strikeouts. Despite the 2-0 UMass lead, Mineau kept at it and took down the final batter of the inning, Jessica Serio, on a full count called strikeout.
In the seventh, LaBovick hit a two-out single to centerfield to ruin the perfect game for Plourde. But she was left out on the field as Plourde struck out the final Ram batter swinging.
Massachusetts 3, Fordham 2
In the second game, Fordham got a hang of Plourde, as Fisher got the Rams' first hit in the bottom of the second inning with solid contact to left field. Fisher got on base in the bottom of the fourth inning off a walk, Plourde's first in two games.
UMass took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after two errors in the outfield. Magill knocked in a run with a long hit to right field for a sac fly. The Minutewomen scored two more runs, once in the fifth inning and once in the seventh to take a 3-0 lead going into the final at bat for the Rams. In the fifth, Teea Rogers lead off with a double to right center and scored on Williams' at bat. Dearborn ended the inning with one runner left in scoring position, grabbing a line drive ground ball and making the play at first base. Fisher made a diving catch in the top of the seventh inning for the second out, and keeping the runner at first base, after UMass had already scored their third run of the game. Mineau took care of UMass' last batter as she struck her own looking.
The Rams rallied in the bottom of the seventh, as their bats finally caught up to the tremendous defense they had been executing on the field. After a leadoff flyout, Fisher hit a leadoff single to left field, her second hit of the game to get on base. Wiggins tallied her eighth mutli-RBI game, her fifth RBI of the week with a homerun over the high left field netting for on a 2-2 pitch.
Junior shortstop Samantha Pellechio (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) flied out to right field for the second out of the inning. Rookie Jamie Pollak (Chandler, Ariz./Corona del Sol), batting seventh, hit a single through the shortstop for a two-out rally to keep the Rams alive. Junior catcher Meghan Shager (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) singled for a base hit up the middle, advancing Pollak to scoring position. It was just a little too late as sophomore Nicole Callahan (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) swung for three to end the game.
Fordham will have a short break and will look to rebound from its loss on Tuesday, April 6 as the Rams host the Manhattan Jaspers in a non-conference doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. The doubleheader will take place at the Bahoshy Softball Complex at Murphy Field.
