Softball Falls to Penn State, Beats Morgan State Saturday

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Fordham softball team continued play Saturday at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic II and was run ruled by Penn State in five innings, 11-1, before bouncing back to defeat Morgan State, 9-2. With the split the Rams move to 5-9 on the season, while the Nittany Lions improve to 7-5 and the Bears fall to 1-9 overall.

Game One
Penn State scored two in the first, three in the second and one more in the third to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Fordham scored its only run in the top of the fourth when junior Sydney Canessa doubled home fellow classmate Amy Van Hoven, which would also be the Rams only hit of the game. The Nittany Lions then scored two of its own in the bottom of the fourth and added a three-spot in the bottom of the fifth to clinch the victory.

Junior Lauren Quense (2-4) took the loss in the circle after lasting just 3.0 innings. Marlaina Laubach (2-1) earned the victory in the one-hit complete-game effort, where she walked three and fanned two.

Game Two
Graduate student Rachel Gillen tossed her second consecutive complete game with double-digit strikeouts, as the southpaw moved to 3-5 after limiting Morgan State to two earned runs on four hits while walking none and fanning 10.

Fordham scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the second when it jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Gillen and sophomore Madison Shaw came around on junior Stephanie Ferri's two-run double down the left field line, which started the scoring, before freshman Jordan Storm scored on sophomore Morgan Figueora's fielder's choice. Ferri then capped the scoring when she crossed the plate on freshman Jessica Hughes' infield RBI single.

After the Bears scored twice in the top of the third to cut the lead in half, Canessa hit her third home run of the season, and Shaw doubled home Gillen in the bottom half to stretch the advantage to 6-2.

Ferri and Figueora both collected a RBI in the bottom of the fifth, as freshman Chelsea Skrepenak and Shaw both scored the runs. Junior Lindsay Mayer capped the scoring in the bottom of the sixth when she doubled home Van Hoven.
The Rams pounded out a season-high 13 hits, with Hughes, Gillen, Shaw and Storm all collecting two apiece. Ferri and Figueora finished with three and two RBI, respectively, while Gillen and Shaw both scored twice.

Up Next
Fordham concludes the tournament Sunday morning at 10 a.m. when it takes on former Atlantic 10 rival Charlotte.