AMHERST, Mass. - (May 11, 2013) - For the third time since 2010, the Fordham softball team has made the NCAA Tournament, as the Rams claimed their second Atlantic 10 title on Saturday, taking game two of a twinbill, 6-5, against Saint Joe's.
Jamie LaBovick, Paige Ortiz, Elise Fortier and Brianna Turgeon made the All-Tournament team from the Rams, while Ortiz claimed Tournament MVP honors.
GAME ONE
In Friday's game against Saint Joe's, the Rams pushed across three early, jumping on the Hawks in the first. Today, Fordham went down in order and it was the Hawks' turn to get on the board in the opening frame. The first three Hawks who came to the plate reached base and Monica Aguilar brought them all home with a grand slam to left, giving Saint Joe's a 4-0 lead before Fordham registered an out. Patti Maloney relieved Michele Daubman after the grand slam and stopped the bleeding, striking out three straight Hawks.
Kayla Lombardo picked up the Rams' first hit of the game in the top of the second, but failed to score and Fordham still trailed 4-0 heading into the bottom of the second.
Maloney fanned two of the three batters she faced in the second and the Rams showed some offensive pop in the top of the third. Paige Ortiz led off the inning with a walk and Brianna Ciuffi came into pinch run. Sammi Smith bunted a single down the third base line in the next at bat before Jamie LaBovick singled through the right side to load the bases. Then, Chelsea Palumbo gave one a ride to deep left field, scoring Ciuffi on a sacrifice fly and pulling the Rams within three, 4-1.
Maloney retired two more batters by way of strikeout in the third, making it seven K's in nine batters for the freshman from Poolesville, Md. After the Rams failed to score in the top of the fourth, Maloney got three Hawks in a row once again and Fordham entered the fifth still trailing by three, 4-1. Fordham went down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth and Maloney finally gave up a pair of hits in the bottom half of the frame, but Fordham managed to emerge unscathed.
The Rams failed to score again in the sixth, and Maloney looked as if she might work her way out of a two-out jam in the bottom of the inning. Unfortunately for Fordham, Morgan Earling took a two-strike pitch to deep left center and it sailed over the wall for a three-run homer, putting Saint Joe's up 7-1. Fordham went down quickly in the seventh, and the Hawks forced a winner take all game for the A-10 title.
GAME TWO
For all the trouble Fordham had getting on the board in game number one, Fortier quickly erased those memories in the second contest of the day. The Coventry, R.I., native blasted a solo shot in the first, giving the Rams an early 1-0 lead. The home run was Fortier's 19th of the year, tying Sam Salato's A-10 record set in 2009.
LaBovick took to the circle in the bottom of the first and rebounded from a leadoff hit to come through the frame unharmed, aided by an impressive double play initiated by Fortier at short.
In the top of the second, Luety battled for a leadoff walk, and after pair of outs, Paige Ortiz stepped into the box and registered her second round-tripper in three days, bumping the Rams' lead to 3-0.
2013 A-10 MOP - Paige Ortiz
LaBovick made quick work of the Hawks in the second and third, leading to the Rams' third long ball of the day. Lombardo rocketed one over the center field wall and wasted no time getting home, choosing to sprint around the bases as her teammates mobbed her at home plate to celebrate the Rams' fifth run of the contest.
The Hawks went scoreless in the bottom of the third, and the Rams failed to push a run across in an inning for the first time in the top of the fourth. Fordham's defense came up big in the bottom half of the frame, as the Rams closed out the inning on a tough 1-6-3 double play, holding the Hawks scoreless once again.
In the top of the fifth the Fordham offense pushed another run across, as Fortier drove in her second run of the day with a sac fly to score Palumbo from third. At the end of four and a half, Fordham led Saint Joe's, 6-0.
LaBovick continued to mow down Saint Joe's hitters through five, but Saint Joe's finally woke up their bats in the sixth, scoring four times and trimming the Rams' lead to two.
Saint Joe's would not go down easy, scoring another run in the bottom of the seventh to make it a one run game. Patti Maloney, however, played beyond her years, picking up the save and punching her team's ticket to the tourney.
Gallery: (5-7-2020) 2013 A-10 Softball Championship
