Ortiz Has Huge Day as Rams Split with UVA

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Game One
 
Leadoff batter Heidi Velk led the Cavaliers with three RBI, pacing her team in a 9-2 win over Fordham on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Rams struggled at the dish, registering only two hits on the game, one of which was a solo shot by Paige Ortiz.
 
The Rams held UVA off the board in the first inning, but the Cavaliers plated four in the bottom of the second. 
 
Ortiz responded with her home run in the top of the third to make it a three-run game, but the Wahoos answered right back with four more in the bottom of the frame, taking a commanding 8-1 lead after three.
 
Sydney Canessa scored on a passed ball in the fifth to move Fordham within six, but UVA added one more in the bottom of the sixth to take the 9-2 lead with which it would end the contest.
 
Game Two
 
After failing to get anything going at the plate in the first game of the day, the Rams suffered no such problems in the day's second tilt, downing UVA 8-2 in Charlottesville.
 
Paige Ortiz led the Rams with her second home run of the day, this one a grand slam, while Elise Fortier chipped in another long ball.
 
The Rams got off to a quick start, plating three runs in the top of the first.  After Canessa and Amy Van Hoven led off the game with walks, Fortier brought them all home with a goner to left field.
 
In the top of the second, Van Hoven bumped the Rams lead to four with an RBI double, scoring Brianna Turgeon.
 
Virginia would make it a two-run game in the bottom of the third, but the Rams answered in a big way in the top of the fourth, as Ortiz belted a grand slam to give her team an 8-2 advantage.
 
Rachel Gillen and Patti Maloney combined to shut down the Cavaliers the rest of the way, securing the win for the Rams.