RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Fordham softball teams dropped its final two games of the N.C. State Hyatt Place Invitational Sunday at Dail Softball Stadium. The Rams lost their opener to Longwood, 10-7, before falling to #25/#25 North Carolina State, 5-0. With the loss, Fordham slips to 11-10 on the season, while the Lancers and Wolfpack improve to 6-13 and 14-9 overall.
Game OneThe Rams held a 6-4 lead over Longwood after three innings but were outscored, 6-1, in the fifth and sixth frames, which proved to be the difference in the contest.
Longwood jumped in front with a two-run top of the first, but the Rams quickly answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half to tie the game at 2-2. Sophomore
Sydney Canessa scored on senior
Michele Daubman's RBI sacrifice fly to left field, while sophomore
Amy Van Hoven crossed the plate courtesy of senior
Kayla Lombardo's RBI single to left field.
Moving to the top of the third, the Lancers scored two more times to regain the advantage at 4-2. But Fordham hung a crooked number in the bottom half, scoring four times for a 6-4 lead. Lombardo produced a 4-4 tie when she hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot over the center field fence that scored Daubman. Later in the inning, Van Hoven reached on an error by the second baseman, as junior Calin Winokur and freshman
Morgan Figueroa came around on the play to produce the Rams' first lead of the day, 6-4.
After neither side scored in the fifth, the Lancers used a four-run inning of its own in the top of the sixth to capture the lead for good at 8-6. Longwood scored on a wild pitch and took advantage of two Fordham errors in the inning.
The Rams crept back to within 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth when Figueroa scored on Van Hoven's RBI fielder's choice, but the Lancers added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth on Megan Baltzell's two-run homer, which made the final tally, 10-7.
Daubman (2-4) was charged with the loss in the circle after allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits in 5.0 innings of work while walking one and striking out three. Junior
Patti Maloney struck out two, walked one and gave up two earned runs on one hit over the final two innings.
Figueroa manufactured her second straight 4-for-4 performance to lead the offense and also scored twice, while Daubman and Lombardo added two hits, with Lombardo collecting three RBI.
Elizabeth McCarthy (5-5) earned the victory in the circle despite allowing seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits over the first four innings. Libby Morris tossed the final 3.0 innings and yielded just one hit en route to her first save of the season.
Baltzell paced the Longwood offense with two home runs, four RBI, four runs and a stolen base, while Justina Augustine added two hits and three RBI. Kelsey Sweeney also had two hits and two RBI for the Lancers, who finished with 10 hits.
Game TwoThe hosts scored all their runs over the first two innings via the long ball and never looked back in the 5-0 victory. NC State hit two home runs in the bottom of the first to lead 3-0, before two more solo shots in the bottom of the second capped the scoring.
Fordham's only real scoring chance came in the top of the third when senior
Paige Ortiz tripled to lead off the inning, and Figueroa followed with a single. But the Rams could not take advantage and failed to score. The Rams outhit the Wolfpack, 6-5, with Ortiz and Figueroa each collecting two apiece.
Redshirt junior
Rachel Gillen (7-4) settled down after the second inning and shut down NC State over the final four frames to collect her sixth complete game of the season. She allowed five earned runs on five hits, walked three and fanned two.
Emily Weiman (9-6) scattered six hits in the complete-game shutout, as she struck out eight and did not issue a walk.
Up NextFordham returns to action March 21-22 when it begins Atlantic 10 play with a three-game series at Saint Louis. The two sides will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and will conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
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