Box Score April 20, 2012
Game One Stats | Game Two Stats | Photo Gallery 
Bronx, N.Y. - The renovations made prior to the 2012 season have made Bahoshy Field feel like home for the softball team as the Rams maintained their flawless home record with a 7-0 and 5-1 sweep of St. Bonaventure, in an Atlantic 10 doubleheader played on Friday. The Rams were led by a pair of strong pitching performances by Jen Mineauand three home runs in the two games.
Game 1
The Rams jumped out to an early lead against the Bonnies as Jamie LaBovick reached on an error by the third baseman in the bottom of the first. Nicole Callahan followed with a base hit through the right side with LaBovick getting to third ahead of the throw as Callahan took second. Chelsea Palumbofollowed with a one-out sacrifice fly to center that scored LaBovick and gave Fordham a 1-0 lead.
Mineau had all the help she needed as she mowed down the Bonnies in order in the first and second. In the third, Kelli Rohan got the first Bonnies' hit with a bunt that took a strange hop allowing her to get to second with a double. But Mineau struck out the side in the third to escape unscathed, and she fanned seven of the first nine outs of the game.
Fordham added another run in the bottom of the third as freshman Paige Ortizwent the other way, crushing a solo home run over the wall in right to give the Rams a 2-0 lead. It was Ortiz's team-leading twelfth homer of the season.
Mineau retired St. Bonaventure in order in the fourth and struck out the side in the fifth. She got some additional help from the Fordham bats in the bottom of the fifth.
Lindsey Kay Brightsingled in the infield and moved to second on a wild pitch in the home fifth. LaBovick reached on an error with Bright scoring on the play to make it 3-0. Callahan then singled to right and moved to second when the right fielder bobbled the ball. The error allowed LaBovick to come around from first to score the fourth run.
The Rams put the game away in the next inning as Bright connected on a double into the left-centerfield gap and LaBovick reached on a fielder's choice. Both runners came in on a single from Callahan.
Taylor Pironepitched a scoreless seventh as the Rams closed out the 7-0 win. Callahan rapped out three hits in game one, and Ortiz, Palumbo and Bright each had two. Mineau improved to 22-10 as she allowed just a pair of hits and struck out 12 to earn the victory.
Game 2
The second game began a bit inauspiciously for the Rams as Mineau gave up a pair of one-out singles to put two runners on for St. Bonaventure. But she escaped trouble by inducing Jessenia Andujar to ground into a double play. Fordham jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Elise Fortierled off with a solo shot that landed on the tennis courts beyond the left-field wall. It was her fourth home run of the year.
Mineau set down the Bonnies in order in the third and fourth as she struck out the side in the third and fanned two of the three batters in the fourth. Fordham pushed its advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth as Fortier walked and Kayla Lombardoreached on a fielding error. VanBenschoten was sent up to pinch hit for Bright and deposited the first pitch she saw from Diana Phalon over the wall in left for a three-run homer.
The Rams added to the lead in fifth, but not before some heroics. Ortiz blasted a ball over the wall in dead center, but St. Bonaventure outfielder, Hali Enderby, jumped over the wall to make the catch and rob Ortiz of her thirteenth homer of the year. With one out, Palumbo walked, Brianna Turgeonsingled and Fortier made the score 5-0 as she ripped an RBI double to center.
St. Bonaventure got a run in the sixth courtesy of a Lindsay Stowell solo shot, but that was all the Bonnies could muster, as Turgeon returned the favor to Enderby in the seventh, robbing her of a potential home run on a leaping catch at the wall in center.
With the two victories, Fordham improved to 29-18 overall, 13-1 in the A-10 and increased its home record to 9-0. The Rams have return to Bahoshy Field on Tuesday, April 24, as they face Iona at 3:00 PM.
