Softball Closes Out Home Slate by Blanking St. John's, 8-0

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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham softball concluded the home portion of its schedule Wednesday with an 8-0 five-inning victory over St. John's at Bahoshy Field. With the win, the Rams improve to 29-18 on the season, while the Red Storm falls to 24-16 overall.

Senior Kayla Lombardo produced all the runs Fordham would need with a towering opposite field three-run homer over the right field fence in the bottom of the first, as sophomores Amy Van Hoven and Lindsay Mayer came around to score for a 3-0 lead.

Van Hoven increased the advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the second with a RBI single that plated senior Brianna Turgeon. One inning later, senior Michele Daubman scored on a wild pitch, and freshman Madison Shaw roped a RBI single to second base that drove home junior Cailin Winokur for a 6-0 lead.

Lombardo came through with another run-scoring hit in the bottom of the fourth when she looped a single into right field to score sophomore Sydney Canessa, before senior Paige Ortiz capped the scoring with a RBI single that plated Mayer.

Daubman (8-8) continued her strong pitching of late with a complete-game shutout to move back to .500 on the season while collecting her fourth complete game and second shutout. She allowed just three hits, walked one and fanned one in her final appearance in the circle at Bahoshy Field.

The offense pounded out 12 hits, with Lombardo finishing a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI and her sixth home run in her final home game. Canessa also finished 3-for-3 and Shaw 2-for-2, while Mayer scored twice.

Tori Free (9-6) was tagged with the loss in the circle after allowing six earned runs on eight hits in 2+ innings of work.

Fordham returns to action this Saturday, May 2 when it begins a three-game series at George Mason in Fairfax, Va. The two sides will play a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m., before playing a single contest Sunday at 1 p.m., which will be the regular-season finale. The Rams need to win all three games and Saint Louis to lose once at Massachusetts this weekend in order to receive a bye at next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament in Amherst, Mass.