Box Score May 11, 2012
Final Stats
St. Louis, Mo. - Maybe it's a Friday thing, but exactly one week after playing the longest game in school history, the Rams were involved in another marathon contest, this one with George Washington at the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship. And similarly to the UMass game last week, the Rams came out on the short end, falling 4-1 to the Colonials.
George Washington made contact early on as they got a pair of runners on base in the first, but failed to score as Jen Mineau pitched out of trouble.
In the second, Chelsea Lenhart placed a line drive single to left, and Samantha Dos Santos ripped a hard grounder to third that Elise Fortier snagged and started the double play as she tossed to Nicole Callahan who relayed the ball to Jamie LaBovickat first, keeping the game scoreless after an inning and a half.
The Rams had base runners in the both second and third on singles, but they were stranded and the game remained scoreless heading into the fourth where the Colonials grabbed a 1-0 lead as Victoria Valos led off the inning with a solo home run over the wall in left.
In the top of the fifth, Lauren Wilson was hit by a pitch and Julie Orlandi singled to put runners on first and second with two outs. Mineau escaped trouble by striking out Valos to strand the runners and keep the score at 1-0.
Fordham had another base runner in the fifth as Brianna Turgeon lifted a bloop single to right with two outs, but the Rams stranded her on base.
Autumn Taylor started the GW sixth with an infield single to second base. Tara Fogarty followed with a bunt single and the Colonials had runners on first and second with no outs. Gabby Luety then picked Taylor off second for the first out before Mineau stuck out Sandi Moynihan and Lenhart for the final two outs and Fordham escaped the sixth unscathed.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Luety worked a two-out walk and Brianna Ciuffi came in to run for her. Paige Ortiz then ripped a ball towards right field, but second baseman Orlandi snagged it for the final out of the inning and George Washington took a 1-0 lead into the seventh.
The bottom of the seventh opened with Elise Fortier hitting single into shallow left field and Jessica Crowley came in to run for her. Chelsea Palumbo followed with a line drive single to short and Michele Daubman advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt. An intentional walk to Turgeon brought up LaBovick with the bases loaded and one out and she tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Crowley to even the score at one. Pinch hitter Katherine VanBenschoten ripped a single through the hole to left but Chelsea Palumbo was thrown out at home trying to score and teh game would go to extra innings.
The eighth opened with Valos ripping a double into the left-center gap. But Mineau retired the next three batters in order and the game remained deadlocked into the bottom of the eighth.
Ortiz connected on a single in the eighth for the Rams, but she was stranded and the game went into the ninth still knotted at 1-1.
Mineau opened the ninth by plunking Moynihan. Alexandra Del Prete hit into a fielder's choice as Moynihan was forced at second. Dos Santos flied to left and Amanda Zakeri popped up to end the inning.
In the Fordham half of the ninth, Turgeon hit a two-out single to center, but she was stranded at first and the game entered the tenth tied at 1-1.
In the tenth, Orlandi ripped a one-out single past a diving Nicole Callahan into right. Autumn Taylor crushed a ball over the wall to left that was just foul before fouling out to end the inning.
In the top of the 11th, Del Prete reached on a fielding error with two outs. Dos Santos worked a walk to put two on for pinchhitter Kristi Saporito. Mineau kept the game scoreless by striking out Saporito.
With one out in the 11th, Fortier lifted a fly ball that was misplayed by Taylor for an error allowing Fortier to reach first. The next two Rams went down and the game entered the 12th even at 1-1.
The bottom of the 12th began with Turgeon ripping a ball back up the middle that the pitcher knocked down and made the play on at first. LaBovick then grounded a single up the middle, giving the Rams a base runner with one out. The next two batters made outs and the game headed into the 13th tied at 1-all.
Taylor led off the 13th inning with a single that traveled about six feet in front of the plate and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Fogerty. Moynihan followed with a line drive single to left and the Colonials had runners on the corners. Moynihan moved to second on a passed ball. Del Prete tried to bunt, but she popped the pitch up to Fortier for the second out. Dos Santos then flied to right and the Rams got out of trouble.
Saporito opened the 14th with a screamer heading to left that Palumbo jumped and caught. Lauren Wilson walked and stole second. From there, Orlandi grounded to third and Fortier tried to get Wilson off of second, but both runners were safe. Then Mineau uncorked a wild pitch and both runners moved up. Valos laid down a suicide squeeze that scored Wilson. On the play, Valos broke for second, and the throw down was late, which allowed Orlandi to score and make it 3-1, Colonials, on a pair of stolen bases. Valos then moved to third on the second wild pitch of the inning. Taylor then grounded out to short, driving in Valos and making the score 4-1 for George Washington.
In the bottom of the 14th, Daubman popped up to the pitcher for the first out. Turgeon then sent Taylor back to the wall before she made the grab for the second out. LaBovick singled into left to give the Rams a base runner but Bright grounded out to end the game.
Fordham ended its season with an overall mark of 32-26 and a 14-6 mark in A-10 play. This was the final game for seniors Lindsey Kay Bright, Nicole Callahan, Jo Krasnisky and Jen Mineau.
