Box Score April 7, 2012
Game One Stats |
Game Two Stats
Ambler, Pa. -
The Fordham softball team closed out an all-important weekend of conference play going 3-1 in four games, as they split a doubleheader with Temple today, winning the opener 5-0 and falling in the second game, 6-5. Jen Mineau threw a perfect game in the first game to vault the Rams to a 9-1 conference mark and a 23-17 overall record.
Game 1:
The Rams sent Mineau out to the circle to try and take a stranglehold on first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings, and she didn't disappoint as she struck out 15 Temple hitters en route to her tenth career no-hitter and fifth perfect game. Her last no-hit game came against Charlotte on March 30.
Fordham gave Mineau a 2-0 lead in the third as Jamie LaBovick and Paige Ortiz hit back-to-back doubles to put runners on second and third with no outs. Brianna Turgeon drove in the first run with a ground out that plated LaBovick and Elise Fortier made it 2-0 with a single up the middle that drove home Ortiz. Chelsea Palumbo added a base hit, but was stranded and Fordham had the 2-0 lead.
Mineau struck out the side in the third and received insurance runs from her team in the top of the fourth. Gabby Luety singled up the middle, and Sammi Smith ran for her. Lindsey Kay Bright tried a sacrifice bunt but everyone was safe when the bunt was misplayed by the second baseman for an error, and Fordham loaded the bases when LaBovick walked.
Nicole Callahan hit an RBI single to left that scored Smith, but Bright also tried to score on the play but was thrown out as the other two runners moved up a base. Ortiz followed Callahan with a walk to load the bases for Fordham. Turgeon worked a walk to force in LaBovick with the fourth Fordham run of the game.
The Rams added more insurance runs in the sixth as Ortiz ripped a double to left, giving her a 3-for-3 day at the plate. She moved to third on the next play and scored on a Palumbo infield single that gave Fordham a 5-0 advantage.
The rest of the game belonged to Mineau as she struck out the side again in the seventh inning to bring her total to 15 in the perfect game. Ortiz and Palumbo had three hits while Callahan added two.
Game 2
The Rams suffered their first conference loss in game two as they fell to Temple, 6-5. The Owls wasted little time exacting some revenge on Mineau as they got to her twice in the second. Stephanie Pasquale ripped a double to center and Meaghan Marley drove her in with a double of her own. Julia Kastner made the score 2-0 for Temple when she connected on the third two-bagger of the inning that delivered Marley.
The lead for Temple didn't last long, though, as Fordham fought back in the top of the third to score three times. With two outs in the inning, LaBovick walked and Callahan ripped her second home run of the week, a two-run shot, that evened the score at two. Ortiz made it back-to-back jacks for the Rams as she connected on a solo homer of her own, to left center, to give Fordham a 3-2 lead.
Temple regained the advantage in the bottom of the inning as they scored a pair of unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead. Ali Robinson led off with a base hit up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sarah Prezioso reached on a fielding error on Fortier and the Owls had two aboard. Pasquale then reached on a fielder's choice, but Fortier made an errant thrown on the play and Robinson came in with the tying run while Prezioso scored the go-ahead run.
Fordham evened the score in the fifth as Bright and LaBovick opened the frame with singles. Later in the frame, Callahan walked to load the bases for Ortiz, who lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Bright to even the game at 4-4 and give Ortiz her second RBI of the game.
The Owls took the lead for the third time in the game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out rally that began with a Prezioso single. The next batter, Pasquale, reached on a fielding error and Rachel Knable followed with an RBI single to right-center that scored Prezioso and gave Temple a 5-4 lead. Meaghan Marley promptly made it 6-4, Owls, with another RBI base hit that drove in Pasquale with an unearned run.
Fordham headed into the sixth trailing 6-4 and the Rams manufactured a run when Michele Daubman reached on a walk. Bright singled to move Daubman to second and Fordham loaded the bases on a Callahan walk. Ortiz collected her third RBI of the game when she was hit by a pitch, which brought home Daubman and drew the Rams within 6-5.
But the Rams were shut down the rest of the way as Temple managed the split. Ortiz had three RBI while Callahan drove in a pair and Bright collected two hits.
Fordham returns to action on Wednesday, April 11, when they travel to Loudonville, New York, to face Siena College in a doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
