Box Score April 30, 2011
Final Stats
Amherst, Mass. -
In a game that was eerily similar to Friday's matchup, the game on Saturday had a small exception. The Rams had already stared down the Minutewomen and defeated them. Fordham made it a clean sweep over UMass with a 4-0 win in Amherst on Saturday, and that victory held the Rams take a stranglehold on first place in the Atlantic 10 standings.
As usual, the game featured dominant pitching performances from UMass' Sara Plourde and Fordham's Jen Mineau. Another strange turnabout came in the bottom of the first as the Minutewomen got to Mineau right away. Teea Rogers laced a one-out triple into right, and Mineau was in a bit of a jam. The All-American was up to the task though, as she got Audrey Boutin on a ground out to Beckah Wiggins where Wiggins was able to check the runner and get the out. Mineau then struck out Meghan Carta to end the inning.
After Mineau struck out the side in the second, she ran into trouble again in the third. Cyndil Matthew laced a one-out triple to right center. And, in a duplication of the first inning, Kyllie Magill groundout to third where Jocelyn Dearborn checked runner and got the out. Mineau then struck out Rogers and trouble was averted.
The Fordham bats finally came to life in the fourth. Nicole Callahan led off with a single up the middle. Jessica Richards came in to run and went from first to third on a single down the left field line from Jamie LaBovick. The next batter was the red-hot Chelsea Palumbo. Coming off a five-RBI game in the opener, Palumbo experienced a bit of déjà vu, with her sixth RBI of the series, as she connected on a base hit through left side plating Richards. LaBovick advanced to third and Palumbo took second on the throw. The next batter, Gabby Luety struck out, but the catcher dropped the third strike, and Luety was thrown out at first. On the putout, Palumbo scored and LaBovick took third and tried to score. The first baseman, Audrey Boutin, threw home and the throw went wide of the catcher, allowing LaBovick to score. The Rams led 3-0 after four innings.
Fordham made the lead 4-0 in the fifth as Dearborn connected on a solo home run. It extended her hitting streak to a career-high 13 games. Mineau uncorked a wild pitch in the seventh to put runners in scoring position, but she was able to work around it for the complete game win. The Rams improved to 36-17 overall, and 14-4 in the league.
Wiggins and Callahan led Fordham with two hits each. Mineau improved to 19-7 on the season. She allowed four hits and two walks and struck out 12.
Fordham completes its New England road trip with a doubleheader against Rhode Island on Sunday, May 1. The action gets underway at noon.
