Box Score March 16, 2011
Game 1Final Stats | Game 2 Final Stats
College Park, Md. -
In a doubleheader from College Park, Maryland on Wednesday, March 16, the Fordham softball team dropped a pair of games to the Maryland Terrapins, 7-1 and 5-4. These were the first games the teams played since meeting in the NCAA Championship Regional in 2010.
Game one saw the Terps crush the Rams 7-1. Sara Acosta led off the first inning with a double. She advanced to third on an infield single from Vangie Galindo. Acosta scored courtesy of an RBI double from Bree Hanafin. Maryland extended the score to 2-0 when Marisha Branson laid down a squeeze bunt that scored Galindo.
The Terrapins extended their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second when Kerry Hickey ripped a two- RBI double that scored Amanda McCann and Galindo. Both of the runs were unearned off and charged to Fordham starter Chelsea Plimpton.
Maryland put the game out of reach in the fifth. Branson led off with a single to left. She later scored on an infield single from Kathy McLaughlin. The second run of the inning came on the back end of a double steal. Courtney Kane was thrown out stealing, but Lauren Ghent scored on the play. The seventh run of the game for the Terps came when Candice Beards hit a solo home run.
Fordham scored in the top of the seventh when Samantha Pellechio lead off with a single down the left-field line. Two batters later Jamie LaBovick singled to center and the Rams had runners on first and second. LaBovick was forced at second on a fielder's choice off the bat of Beckah Wiggins, and Fordham had runners on the corners and two outs. Meghan Shager got the Rams on the board with an RBI hit to center that scored Pellechio.
With the 7-1 defeat, Fordham's record fell to 14-11. The loss ended Fordham's six-game winning streak. Plimpton went the distance for the Rams. She gave up 12 hits, walked one and struck out three.
Game 2
In the rubber game of the doubleheader, Maryland swept the Rams with a 5-4 win. That loss gave Fordham a 14-12 record.
The Rams took the early lead as the first three batters of the game all reached base for Fordham. Jocelyn Dearborn led off with a walk. Nicole Callahan moved her up with a base hit to right field. Gabby Luety then walked to load the bases. Samantha Pellechio gave Fordham a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly that scored Dearborn. On the play, Callahan was thrown out at third base attempting to advance. The next batter, Beckah Wiggins, homered and the Rams had a 3-0 lead.
Jen Mineau, who got the start for Fordham, struck out four of the first seven batters she faced and wasn't touched for a run until the third inning. In the third, Kendra Knight led off with an infield single. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Sara Acosta walked and both Knight and Acosta scored on a triple from Bree Hanafin cleared the bases. After three innings, Fordham had a 3-2 lead.
The Terps would take the lead just one inning later. Candice Beards led off the fourth with a single. Lauren Ghent came in to run for her and tied the game at 3-3 on a sacrifice fly from Kathy McLaughlin. Maryland took a 4-3 lead later in the frame when Amanda McCann tripled home Marisha Branson. The Terrapins extended their lead to 5-3 in the fifth when an RBI single from Beards scored Galindo, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Fordham threatened again in the sixth. With two outs, Pellechio connected on a solo home run to make the score 5-4 for Maryland. Jamie LaBovick singled in the seventh, but the Rams failed to score and the Terps won game two, 5-4.
Mineau went the distance for Fordham. She gave up 10 hits, walked one and struck out seven. Pellechio and Wiggins each had a homer and two RBI for the Rams.
After a couple of days off, the Rams open up Atlantic 10 play on Sunday, March 20. They travel to St. Louis, Missouri to face the Saint Louis Billikens. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M. Eastern Time.
