April 6, 2010
Game 1: GameTracker Live Stats | Watch Live! | Listen Live WFUV.org
Game 2: GameTracker Live Stats | Watch Live! | Listen Live WFUV.org
Game Notes (PDF)
BRONX, N.Y. - Fordham returns to action at the Bahoshy Complex for a break in Atlantic 10 action with a non-conference doubleheader against Bronx-rival, Manhattan College on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the cross-town clash.
Fordham, 26-8, is looking to rebound off two hard losses to No. 23 UMass at home on Saturday. The Rams are midway through an 11-game homestand with a 3-2 record. Fordham started the week with a 3-0, 10-inning victory over St. John's on Wednesday, took two games from Rhode Island, 8-1, 3-0 on Thursday before losing to UMass, 2-0, 3-2 on Saturday.
Manhattan is 8-8 overall and is coming off an 11-inning, 7-6 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Central Connecticut on Sunday.
So far this season, the Rams are 2-0 over opponents from their former conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. On March 24, the Rams defeated St. Peter's College 21-1, 12-1 in Jersey City. Fordham holds the all time series record over Manhattan, 26-14 in one of Fordham's longest rivalries. The two teams did not meet in 2009.
Fordham fans can follow the game live via FordhamSports.com with GameTracker live stats, Webcast. The radio broadcast can also be accessed on WFUV.org.
SCOUTING THE JASPERS
Manhattan is 8-8 so far this season, after starting in mid-March at the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, Fla. The Jaspers went 5-6 at the Rebel Games, defeating Columbia, Lafayette, twice, Army and Fairleigh Dickinson, 8-0 in five innings. Fordham will play FDU on April 14, to close out its 11-game homestand.
Back in the Bronx, the Jaspers split a doubleheader against Army on Thursday, March 25, before playing their next five games on the road, including the Fordham series.
The Jaspers are coming off a doubleheader split at Central Connecticut. Manhattan lost the first game, 4-1, but came back for a 7-6, 11-inning victory in the second game.
At the plate, Manhattan is led by Jaci Rahey with a .429 batting average. She's 18-for-42 with eight runs, four doubles and four homeruns with 19 RBI. The Jaspers' runs leader is Melissa Donnelly with 13.
Nicole Michel is second with a .362 batting average, going 17-for-47 with five runs, two doubles, two homeruns and 10 RBI.
Only three Jaspers have started every game, Donnelly, Monica Evangelista and Kristina Walraven.
In the circle, Donnelly (2-2) is also the team's ERA leader with 2.16. Erika Sullivan has appeared in the most games, with a 5-2 record and three shutouts in 43 innings pitched. She's also the pitching staff's strikeout leader with 18. As a staff, the Jaspers' have recorded 51 strikeouts. Donnelly and Sullivan are backed by Ashley Rampino (1-4) is the third pitcher in the lineup.
RAMS VS. JASPERS - THE SERIES
The cross-town rivals have one of the longest series in Fordham history with 40 games. Fordham holds a 26-14 advantage in the series.
Once conference opponents, as Fordham began its varsity program in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with Manhattanville. Fordham held an 11-1 MAAC record over Manhattan before leaving the league in 1993. Manhattan got its only MAAC win over Fordham in 1987, in a two-run decision, 6-4.
In the Bridget Orchard Era, Fordham holds an 11-2 advantage over Manhattan. The Jaspers won 7-2 in Riverdale in 2002, winning the first game of a doubleheader before Fordham came back to win 6-3. The Jaspers also won the second game of a doubleheader in 2007, at Rose Hill, 10-7.
Fordham is currently on a four-game win streak over Manhattan, outscoring the Jaspers 29-8 since 2007.
WHEN LAST THEY MET
Fordham and Manhattan did not see eachother on the diamond in 2009, instead the last time they played eachother was on April 11, 2008 at the Bahoshy Complex at Murphy Field.
Fordham defeated Manhattan in both games of the doubleheader, scoring 10 runs in both games.
In game one, Fordham got out to a great start, as Allison Twarowski led off the game with a solo home run, her third of the season. Just one batter later, Mary Beth Puccio hit another solo home run, her second of the year.
After Manhattan tied the game at two in the second, Fordham scored four times in the bottom half of the inning to grab a 6-2 advantage, all with two outs. Melissa Andrews started the rally with a single, followed by an RBI-double by Puccio. After a walk to Allison Storc, Jocelyn Dearborn doubled to center, scoring Puccio. Erin Fisher then ripped a two-run double, scoring Storc and Dearborn.
Nicole Ayres got the win in relief, pitching four innings, allowing one run on three hits with seven strikeouts, while Allison Twarowski threw the first three innings, giving up three unearned runs on four hits. At the plate, Fisher was 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI, while Puccio went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Jocelyn Dearborn was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored, with Melissa Andrews also having three hits and two runs scored.
In game two, Fordham jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Andrews singled with one out, which was followed by a two-run home run by Puccio, her second of the day and third of the season. Dearborn then doubled, moved to third on an error, and scored on a single by Fisher.
Fordham tacked on five runs in the second for an 8-0 lead. The Rams capped the scoring with two in the third for a 10-0 advantage. In the circle, Beckah Wiggins and Juanita Gonzalez combined for the three-hit shutout, as Wiggins threw the first four innings for the win, allowing two hits with four strikeouts, while Gonzalez got two strikeouts in her one inning of work.
LAST TIME OUT
On Saturday, April 3, Fordham lost two hard fought games against Atlantic 10 opponent, No 23 UMass. The Minutewomen took two from the Rams, shutting them out 2-0 in the first game, then 3-2 in the second game, despite a seventh-inning rally.
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 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 struck out a combined 22 batters in the doubleheader. Plourde recorded 29.
In the second game, senior Erin Fisher 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 was too little to late for Fordham.
ON DECK
The Rams continue their two-week homestand with a series against Atlantic 10-foe St. Louis this weekend. The Rams and Billikens will begin their series on Friday, April 9 with a 3 p.m. single game, and finish the two-day series with a game at noon on Saturday, April 10.
