Box Score May 13, 2011
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Charlotte, N.C. -
On another balmy, muggy day in the Queen City of Charlotte, North Carolina, in a game that featured two All-American's in the circle, the top seeded Fordham Rams defeated the second seeded, Massachusetts Minutewomen, 1-0 in a 10-inning game in the semi final round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday, May 13. The game saw Fordham's Jen Mineau top UMass' Sara Plourde as both pitchers threw spectacular complete games.
With the win, the Rams may have finally usurped league dominance from UMass and they will advance to the championship game against an undetermined opponent on Saturday, May 14 at 11:00 A.M.
In a game that had all the trappings of a great, heavyweight prize fight, it was Mineau who showed some vulnerability early. She threw six straight balls to open the game and, in the process, walked Kyllie Magill. Magill ended up at third but was stranded there. Mineau had a lack of command early on as she battled the elements. The humidity affected her grip on the ball and she was constantly rubbing it with a towel and blowing on it to keep it dry and in the later innings, she would find her form.
Massachusetts had another runner get on in the second on a walk, but she too was stranded at second. In the Rams' half of the inning, Chelsea Palumbo recorded the first of the game for the Rams as she hit a soft flare between the circle and shortstop and beat it out for an infield single. The next batter, Gabby Luety, hit a routine grounder in the infield, but the first baseman dropped the throw and Fordham had two runners on base. It was at this point that Plourde displayed her meddle as she struck out Beckah Wiggins and Jessica Crowley to escape trouble.
Fordham had another base runner in the fifth when Wiggins worked out a walk. She was promptly erased on a steal attempt, and through five innings the Rams had no runs and just one infield hit as Plourde continued her dominance.
Mineau was up to the charge, though, as she set down 11 in a row until the top of the sixth when UMass' Lindsey Webster reached on an infield single to short. She would be stranded at first.
Neither team could push a run across through seven innings, so the game went into extra frames. In the top of the eighth, the Minutewomen nearly went ahead. With one out, Cyndil Matthew, the ninth hitter in the lineup, ripped a hard line drive that was heading for right field until Wiggins made a dive to her right and snagged the slow screamer for the second out. This proved to be fortuitous for the Rams as the next batter, Magill, reached on a fielding error by Jocelyn Dearborn. Mineau reared back and struck out Webster to end the inning.
It was the Rams' turn to counterpunch in the bottom of the inning as leadoff batter, Luety lifted the Plourde offering to the top of the wall in left field where Tiffany Meeks climbed the wall to make a great catch and take an extra-base hit away from Luety. From there, Wiggins worked a one-out walk. She advanced to third when Lindsey Kay Bright singled and advanced on an error. Fordham had runners on second and third with two outs and the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year coming to bat.
Instead of walking the Rams' best hitter, in Dearborn, with first base open in a scoreless tie, the Minutewomen displayed some hubris and pitched to her. The A-10 Pitcher of the Year topped the A-10 Player of the Year in this battle as Plourde fanned Dearborn to escape trouble.
As the pressure on both teams grew simultaneously with the innings churning along, it would be UMass who would make mistakes late. In the tenth, Christine Della Vecchia led off with a walk. She tried to steal second, but slid past the bag where Samantha Pellechio applied the tag to record the out. Mineau fanned the other two batters and the Rams went into the bottom of the tenth still tied.
After driving in both runs in the opening round game with a clutch single on Thursday, Wiggins came through again with a double up the alley in left-center. She advanced to third base on a wild pitch. From there, Jessica Crowley worked a full count and drew a walk to put runners on the corners for Bright. Bright slapped a ball to short and Wiggins, who was off with contact, beat the throw home and the Rams defeated the Minutewomen 1-0.
In the game, Mineau threw 10 innings, gave up two hits, walked three and struck out six. Her counterpart, Plourde, threw nine plus innings, surrendered one run on four hits and struck out 10. This was the third straight win Fordham had over Massachusetts after sweeping a doubleheader from them in the regular season.
