Box Score April 6, 2012
Final Stats
Philadelphia, Pa. -
The final game of the 2012 series with Saint Joseph's featured a rematch of the two pitchers in the 2011 A-10 Championship as the Hawks put Erin Gallagher in the circle and the Rams countered with Jen Mineau, but it was Chelsea Palumbo's bat that proved the difference as she recorded the game-winning RBI for the second game in a row to lead the Rams to a 4-1 extra-inning win.
The Hawks threatened early unlike on Thursday when it took Saint Joseph's until the sixth inning to get a hit off of Mineau. Dana Parks led off the home first with an infield single and moved to second on a passed ball giving the Hawks a runner in scoring position with no outs. But Mineau escaped trouble by striking out the next three Hawks' hitters.
Mineau kept up her hot start by striking out six straight batters after giving up the base hit to Parks, en route to retiring seven in a row before a one-out single to left by Melissa Ruf broke up the streak.
The Hawks touched up Mineau in the bottom of the fourth as leadoff hitter Lauren Rendon took a Mineau offering over the wall in left for a solo home run to give Saint Joseph's a 1-0 lead.
The Rams rallied in the top of the fifth as the bottom of the lineup got things going. With one out, Michele Daubman reached on error by the third baseman and Sammi Smith came in to run for her. With the infield in playing the bunt, Lindsey Kay Bright slapped a single past the shortstop to put two runners on for Jamie LaBovick, who loaded the bases with a single the other way that drove Gallagher from the game.
Taryn Ashway relieved Gallagher to face Nicole Callahan. Callahan greeted her with a grounder to second that allowed the runner to score, but on the play LaBovick was called out for leaving early and the run was disallowed. Callahan returned to the plate and ripped a smash that was misplayed by the third baseman for an error that let Smith score the tying run.
Fordham went in order in the seventh while Mineau struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, her eleventh and twelfth of the game, but allowed a two-out walk to Maria Fica, who was thrown out attempting to steal second by Luety, and the game went into extra innings.
Callahan led off the Fordham eighth with a ground ball single up the middle, and Erica Wills pinch ran for her. Paige Ortiz then reached base on a fielding error by the shortstop and the Rams had runners on first and second with no outs. Two batters later, Chelsea Palumbo was the hero for the second day in a row as she lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Wills for the 2-1 lead. Brianna Turgeon followed with a two-run home run to the opposite field, her second home run of the year, and Fordham led 4-1.
The Hawks opened the bottom of the eighth with a base hit from Loguidice and Traneya White came in to run for her. White moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a single by Parks. Saint Joseph's loaded the bases when Rendon was hit by a pitch but Mineau retired the side without allowing a run and Fordham held on for the 4-1 win.
With the victory, the Rams improved to 22-16 overall, 8-0 in conference play. Fordham closes out its Philadelphia road trip with a doubleheader against Temple on Saturday, April 7. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.
