Rams Drop Pair in Orlando

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Game One

The Rams held tough with the 23rd ranked team in the nation for the first half of their contest on Friday afternoon, but ultimately fell 7-3 to the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame struck first in the bottom of the opening frame, plating two runs on two hits.  After Michele Daubman held the Fighting Irish scoreless in the second, Notre Dame pushed one more across in the bottom of the third, as Cassidy Whidden hit a sac fly to put the Irish ahead 3-0 after three full innings.
 
Trailing by three, the Rams responded in the top of the fourth.  With one out, Paige Ortiz was hit by a pitch and Brianna Ciuffi came in to run for the Katy, Texas, native.  With Ciuffi on first, Lombardo took a pitch low in the zone and belted over the left field fence, bringing the Rams within just one run of the number 23 team in the nation.
 
Notre Dame quickly built on its now slim lead, recording one run on two hits in the bottom of the fourth to move ahead 4-2.  The Rams, however, battled back once again to shave the deficit down to a single run, as an Elise Fortier single scored Sydney Canessa in the top of the fifth.
 
Ahead by just one, the Fighting Irish plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth, moving ahead 7-3 before eventually closing out the game by that margin.

Game Two

Lauren Quense pitched a gem, but the Rams struggled to get the bats going in their game against Ohio State, falling 1-0 to the Buckeyes.

Fortier led the Rams at the dish, going 2-3 on the game.  Lombardo, Daubman and Amy Van Hoven also recorded hits for the Rams.

Quense allowed one run on only three hits, but registered the loss for the Rams.

Ohio State scored their lone run in the top of the first, when Taylor Watkins reached on a walk before eventually scoring on an Erika Leonard double.

The Rams will be back in action with a pair of games tomorrow, taking on #1 Florida at 1:15 PM before facing off against Omaha at 3:30 PM.