Dec. 14, 2011

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham softball team released its 2012 schedule today and it features 56 total games, with 15 being played at the newly renovated Bahoshy Field. Highlighting the schedule for the defending Atlantic 10 champions, a list that includes eleven NCAA tournament teams and three NCAA Women's College World Series participants from a year ago, are perennial softball powers Arizona, UCLA, and California, as well as Alabama, who will travel to the Bronx for a single game on Monday, May 7th, at 6:00 PM.

Head coach Bridget Orchard is heading into her eleventh season at the helm of a team that took home the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championships in 2011, and advanced to the NCAA Regional for the second straight year.

The Rams open the season on February 17th, with a visit to Greenville, North Carolina, to play in the ECU Pirate Clash, hosted by East Carolina. The Rams will face Virginia, UNC Greensboro and Louisville (NCAA) in addition to the Pirates (NCAA) over the three-day tournament.

From there, Fordham heads to the West Coast for the prestigious Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, closing out the month of February against UC Davis, Arizona (NCAA), Long Beach State (NCAA), California (NCAA) and Cal. State Fullerton.

March opens with the Rams visiting Florida twice for a pair of tournaments. From the 2nd to the 4th, the team will be in Orlando for the Citrus Classic competing against Baylor (NCAA), Virginia Tech, Longwood, UCLA (NCAA) and Illinois State (NCAA).

The following week, the Rams head to Clearwater to compete in the USF Under Armour Showcase from March 9th through the 11th. Fordham will face seven opponents at the tournament, including Rutgers from the Big East, and will also take on the Netherlands National Team in an exhibition contest.

The final tournament for Fordham is the JMU Days Inn Invitational in Harrisonburg, Virginia, from March 16th through the 18th, which features two matchups against Big East opponent, Pittsburgh.

The Rams' home schedule opens with local rivals, St. John's, on March 20th, before Fordham commences Atlantic 10 play with games at La Salle on March 23rd and 24th and a doubleheader at George Washington on March 25th.

Fordham closes out the month of March with its first A-10 home contests, hosting Charlotte on Bahoshy Field for single games on the 30th and 31st.

The month of April will be a busy one for the Rams, who host seven home games during the month, including conference matchups with Saint Louis (single games on April 13th and 14th) and St. Bonaventure (single games on April 20th and 21st).

May opens with an even busier schedule for the Rams, who play six games over the first seven days of the month, including home conference games with Massachusetts (singles games on the 4th and 5th) and Rhode Island (doubleheader on the 6th) and the Alabama visit to the Bronx on May 7th.

Fordham returns eight starters from a team that posted a 42-19 record last spring, which included a 16-4 conference mark. The Rams won the regular season Atlantic 10 title, the A-10 Championship tournament crown and took the first game of the NCAA Regional.

The Rams will be led on the field by 2011 Third Team All-America pitcher, Jen Mineau, along with 2011 All Atlantic 10 honorees, Jamie LaBovick and Gabby Luety.