Box Score May 1, 2011
Game One Final Stats | Game Two Final Stats
Kingston, R.I. -
The Fordham softball team completed a perfect, 4-0, road trip through New England with a sweep against Rhode Island on Sunday May 1, 9-3 and 6-0. With the victories, the Rams clinched the Atlantic 10, regular season title, and a first round bye in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Championship, on May 11-14 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Game One
After not pitching since her near perfect game against St. Peter's, Chelsea Plimpton struggled out of the gate, but eventually earned the win and improved to 17-10 on the season.
She fell behind early as URI's Brittany Julich laced a single up the middle in the third. Fallon Scorpio followed with a double to center and the Rams had runners on second and third. Nicole Massoni gave Rhode Island a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly that scored Julich. Later in the inning, Kelly Coker singled in Scorpio and the Rams lead 2-0.
The lead didn't last long as Fordham tied the game in the very next inning. Nicole Callahan led off with a single, and Samantha Pellechio ripped a home run to left field to drive in Callahan and her and even the score at 2-2.
Like the ebb and flow of a championship prizefight, Rhode Island countered in the bottom of the fourth as Jocelyn Mattison led off with a solo shot to left field. The home run helped URI regain the lead, 3-2. Plimpton, didn't allow another run for the entire game.
In the fifth, Fordham took the lead for good. Lindsey Kay Bright reached on a one-out single. Jocelyn Dearborn then extended her career-high-hitting-streak to 14 games with a two-run home run that catapulted the Rams into the lead at 4-3. Fordham's counterpunches continued as Callahan reached on an error and Pellechio blasted her second home run of the game extending the Rams' advantage to 6-3.
Dearborn collected her third RBI of the game in the sixth with a sacrifice fly that plated Meghan Shager, who reached on a fielder's choice. In the seventh, Chelsea Palumbo drove in Fordham's eighth run with a double to center that scored Pellechio. The final run came on an RBI base hit by Beckah Wiggins that drove in Palumbo.
Game Two
The Fordham All-American, Jen Mineau, took the circle for the rubber match of the series, and she was up to the task as she limited the Rams to two his and one walk, while striking out eight, as Fordham completed the sweep of URI, 6-0.
The Rams grabbed the early lead, 2-0 as Dearborn walked and scored on a Pellechio ground out and Callahan singled and came in on a Palumbo sacrifice fly. The two runs turned out to be enough for the Rams, but they added to their lead in the second.
Jamie LaBovick led off the second with a double and she advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bright then picked up an RBI with an infield single that scored LaBovick and gave the Rams a 3-0 edge.
Fordham added two more runs in the third inning as Dearborn walked and moved to third on a Callahan double. Dearborn scored and Callahan moved up to third on a wild pitch. From there, Palumbo made the score 5-0 for the Rams with an RBI double down the left field line. The Rams sealed the victory in the sixth when Jessica Crowley singled and came around on an RBI base hit by Callahan.
With the 6-0 win, Mineau improved to 20-7 for the season, her second-straight 20-win campaign. Fordham improved to 38-17 overall and clinched its first regular season title in the A-10 since the 2006 Rams won it. After earning a first-round bye, the team returns to action against a yet unknown opponent in the second round of the A-10 Championship, which gets underway on May 11.
