Softball to Play Five Games in Tampa Starting Friday

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TAMPA, Fla. -- The Fordham softball team (2-3) returns to action this weekend, Feb. 13-15, at South Florida's Presidents' Day Weekend Tournament. The Rams are slated to play five games in three days at the USF Softball Stadium.

Fordham begins play Friday morning against local rival St. John's at 9 a.m., before taking on #11/#14 Tennessee at 11:15 a.m. On Saturday, the Rams face Florida Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. and South Florida at 8:15 p.m. Fordham concludes the tournament Sunday with an 11:15 a.m. contest against Detroit.

Last Time Out
The Rams opened the 2015 season last weekend at Arizona State's  Kajikawa Classic, where they finished 2-3. Fordham was leading its opener, 4-1, over Nevada heading into the top of the seventh, but yielded five runs to the Wolf Pack and fell, 6-4. The Rams were then beaten in six innings by Fresno State, 8-0. On day two, Fordham rallied from an early 3-0 deficit against Pacific to tame the Tigers, 4-3, to earn its first win of the season. The Rams were then shutout by California, 8-0, as the Golden Bears are nationally-ranked this week. Fordham pounded Portland State, 8-0, to conclude the tournament behind Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week Rachel Gillen's complete-game shutout.

Sophomore Amy Van Hoven started all five games for the Rams and hit .400 (6-for-15) with four runs, two RBI and one stolen base. Fellow classmate Lindsay Mayer also started all five games and hit .385 (5-for-13) and reached base at a .467 clip while driving home four and scoring three times. Gillen saw action three times in the circle, with two starts, and finished 2-1 with a 0.76 ERA, four walks and 20 strikeouts in 18.1 innings.

St. John's
2015 Season: 3-1
When: Friday, Feb. 13 - 9 a.m.
Where: Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Series History: St. John's leads 12-6 (since April 23, 1985)
Last Meeting: April 30, 2013 - St. John's 3 Fordham 0 (in Jamaica, N.Y.)
What You Need To Know: The Red Storm is off to a 3-1 start after defeating Youngstown State (4-2), Presbyterian (8-7) and UMES (7-2) last weekend at the Campbell/Hampton Invitational in North Carolina, while the lone loss came to Towson (7-4). Erin Bruner was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after hitting .538 (7-for-11), and Carly Williams batted .455 (5-for-11) with one home run and three RBI. St. John's combined for 40 hits in its first four games of the 2015 season, earning 27 of them over its last two contests, with a 14-hit performance against Presbyterian and a 13-hit performance versus UMES. McKenzie Murray led the Red Storm in the circle, going 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA in two appearances.

Tennessee
2015 Season: 4-0
When: Friday, Feb. 6 - 11:15 a.m.
Where: Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Series History: First Meeting
What You Need To Know: The Lady Volunteers are off to a 4-0 start and are ranked #11 in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and #14 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. Tennessee had no trouble in victories over Ohio (5-0), Dayton (9-0), Kennesaw State (13-5) and Northern Kentucky (15-2), with the final three wins coming in five-inning contests at last weekend's Kennesaw State Classic in Georgia. Taylor Koenig had a big weekend for the Lady Vols after going 6-for-9 (.667) with two doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI and two walks for a 1.556 slugging percentage and .750 on-base percentage.  Gretchen Aucoin posted a 2-0 record in the circle with a 0.00 ERA while allowing only four hits and striking out 10 in 8.1 innings of work. 

Florida Gulf Coast
2014 Season: 2-3
When: Saturday, Feb. 14 - 1:30 p.m.
Where: Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Series History: Fordham leads 1-0 (since March 5, 2010)
Last Meeting: March 5, 2010 - Fordham 6 Florida Gulf Coast 5 (in Clearwater, Fla.)
What You Need To Know: The Eagles started the season last weekend 2-3 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala. FGCU collected victories over Houston Baptist (6-4) and Southern Mississippi (6-5) and losses to McNeese State (6-4 in 8 innings), #3 Alabama (13-1) and Houston (11-1). Mackenzie McAvoy batted .500 (8-for-16) with four runs, while Kelsey Carpenter hit .333 (4-for-12) with a home run, four walks and a stolen base. Shelby Morgan tossed two complete games in the circle and is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA and seven strikeouts in 14.1 innings of work.

South Florida
2015 Season: 3-2
When: Saturday, Feb. 14 - 8:15 p.m.
Where: Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Series History: South Florida leads 3-2 (since March 15, 2006)
Last Meeting: Feb. 18, 2011 - Fordham 1 South Florida 0 (in Clearwater, Fla.)
What You Need To Know: The host Bulls are receiving votes in both polls and finished 3-2 last weekend at their own opening tournament, which included a 10-5 loss to #1/#1 Florida, after leading the Gators, 4-2, heading into the seventh inning. USF handled Hampton (7-5), Illinois State (7-0) and Jacksonville (9-1 in 5 innings) while also falling to #8/8 Michigan (4-3). Lee Ann Spivey was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll after hitting .385 (5-for-13) with three doubles, a home run and six RBI, while D'Anna Devine batted .500 with three runs, and Veronica Gajownik added three RBI and hit .385. The pitching staff is made up of a strong quartet of Erica Nunn (1-1, 0.75 ERA), Sam Greiner (1-1, 2.33 ERA), Susan Wysocki (1-0, 2.80 ERA) and Karla Claudio (0-0, 2.90 ERA). Nunn earned a spot on the American Weekly Honor Roll this week after pitching a complete-game no-hitter against Illinois State, striking out 10 Redbirds along the way. 

Detroit
2015 Season: 0-0
When: Sunday, Feb. 15 - 11:15 a.m..
Where: Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Series History: Detroit leads 3-1 (since 1988)
Last Meeting: March 16, 2013- Fordham 18 Detroit 8 (6 innings) (in Harrisonburg, Va.)
What You Need To Know: The Titans make their 2015 debut this weekend after finishing 7-42 a year ago where they hit. 237 and pitched to a 9.12 ERA. Leading the Detroit offense will be Kayla Kostich, who finished the 2014 season with Second Team All-Horizon League honors after posting a .331 average and ranking sixth in the league in both hits (47) and doubles (9). Christa McGahuey, also a Second Team All-Horizon League selection in 2014, led the Titans with 10 home runs and 22 RBI while hitting .308. In the circle, Detroit returns Kat Hoffman (3-13, 9.12 ERA), who finished the season with 42 strikeouts in 97.2 innings of work.

Up Next
The Rams travel to the Upstate section of South Carolina next weekend, Feb. 20-22, to play four games at Furman's Paladin Classic in Greenville, S.C. against Toledo, Hampton, Furman and Gardner-Webb. Fordham will also play a neutral site contest Saturday, Feb. 21 against reigning Northeast Conference champion Bryant at 11 a.m.