Softball Unfortunate in Doubleheader Sweep at Disney

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Fordham softball team was on the wrong end of Friday's contests at the Diamond 9 Citrus Challenge II being played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Rams lost a nine-inning heartbreaker in their opener, 4-3, to Maryland, before falling to Penn State, 6-1. Fordham drops to 8-7 with the losses, while the Terrapins and Nittany Lions improve to 11-5 and 7-7 overall.

Game One
Fordham looked primed to win its ESPN3 game with Maryland after taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh when sophomore Sydney Canessa scored on senior Michele Daubman's two-out RBI single to center field.  

Redshirt junior Rachel Gillen returned to the circle to start the bottom of the seventh and ran into trouble, as she put runners on second and third with one out, forcing the Rams to move the infield in. The Terrapins then tied the game at 2-2 on an unearned run after a fielding error at second base. Gillen was able to pitch out of trouble by inducing a pop out to first and a groundout to second to end the threat.

Junior Cailin Winokur was placed on second to start the top of the eighth, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and gave Fordham a 3-2 lead when sophomore Lindsay Mayer reached on an error by the shortstop before being thrown out at second. Senior Cora Ianiro followed with a one-out double and moved to third on Gillen's single, prompting a Terrapin pitching change, but the Rams were unable to tack on insurance runs.

Gillen ran into more trouble in the bottom of the eighth, as Maryland loaded the bases with one out. After recording the second out on a short fly out to right field, Gillen walked in the tying run.

The Rams were unable to do anything in the top of the ninth, and the Terrapins scored with their first batter, as Lindsey Schmeiser delivered the walk-off RBI sacrifice fly to score Kylie Datil, who was on third base after a passed ball.

Early on, Fordham took the lead in the top of the second when Mayer scored on an error by the second baseman. Maryland knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth on Erin Pronobis' line-drive homer over the right field fence. The Rams then had a golden opportunity to blow the game open in the top of the fifth when they loaded the bases with nobody out but could not score, which proved to be a big moment in the game.

Gillen (4-2) tossed her fourth complete game in the loss, as she was charged with four runs (two earned) on six hits while walking four and fanning seven.

Hannah Dewey (8-4) earned the victory in the circle with her 2.1 innings of relief. She allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and walked one. Kaitlyn Schmeiser received the no-decision after limiting Fordham to one run on seven hits over 6.2 innings of work, where she walked one and struck out two.

The Rams finished with 11 hits, with Canessa, sophomore Amy Van Hoven, Gillen and senior Brianna Turgeon each collecting a pair.

Game Two
The Rams looked to have forgotten about the loss to Maryland, as they scored in the bottom of the first against Penn State to take the early 1-0 lead. Canessa singled to lead off the frame and came around to score on Mayer's one-out RBI single down the left-field line.

However, it was all Nittany Lions after that. Penn State answered back with three runs in the top of the second, before tacking on single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. Fordham was only able to get one runner to second base the rest of the game, which happened with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.

Daubman (2-3) took the loss in the circle after allowing five earned runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings while walking one and striking out two. Junior Patti Maloney pitched the final 1.2 innings, yielding one run on one hit. Canessa went a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish and scored the lone run to lead the Rams' six-hit effort.

Mariana Laubach (3-2) went the distance for Penn State, as she limited Fordham to one earned run on six hits while walking none and striking out three. The Nittany Lion offense finished with 13 hits, with four different plays recording two.

Up Next
The Rams return to action Saturday at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex when they take on #8/#8 Georgia at 3:30 p.m. and Georgetown at 5:45 p.m.