Softball at Saint Joseph's This Weekend

Live Stats (All Three Games)
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (18-15, 2-1) is on the road once more with a three-game Atlantic 10 conference series at nearby Saint Joseph's (11-10-1, 1-1-1). The Rams are looking to continue their recent momentum after winning two of three against Massachusetts last weekend and 11 of their last 13 contests overall.
 
The Rams and Hawks will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 2, with first pitch of game one slated for 12 p.m. The two schools will play their third and final game on Sunday with a noon start time.
 
Live stats are available for all three contests via the link above.
 
Last Time Out
Thursday afternoon's one-off at neighboring Iona College was as thrilling as a 1-0 nine-inning game can be. Both teams had multiple chances at pushing runs across the plate but excellent defense and stellar pitching kept the two schools off the scoreboard – until the ninth inning.
 
Iona's Jessica Harkness entered the final frame with eight innings of two-hit ball and got the first two outs with relative ease. Sophomore first baseman Madison Shaw roped a 1-0 pitch to shallow center field to give the Rams a chance, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and junior Stephanie Ferri, who had entered the game in the fifth inning at catcher, laced the game-winning hit to left centerfield, a one-hop ground-rule double, her eighth RBI of the campaign.
 
Zipcar.com Athlete of the Month Rachel Gillen started in the circle for the Rams and fired four innings of one-hit shutout ball with one walk and six strikeouts. Junior Lauren Quense replaced Gillen in the fifth and earned her seventh win of the season with five shutout innings of her own. The combined shutout is the first of the season for Fordham and fifth total.
 
Get to Know the Hawks
Saint Joseph's had a very interesting conference-opening series at Dayton last weekend with two contests going to 11 innings and the rubber match being ruled a tie after seven innings. The Hawks, like the Rams, also played an out-of-conference opponent midweek, against Monmouth, but lost, 6-3.
 
The Hawks have both the third-best ERA (2.62) and average (.278) in the conference. Junior Madeline Brunck leads the team with 28 hits and 17 runs scored, while senior Brandi Harkness has tallied a team-high 18 RBIs. Fordham fans will undoubtedly see senior standout Anna Lauterbach in the circle this weekend as she enters the series with a 1.66 ERA and also doubles as the conference's saves leader with five. Sophomore Madison Clarke has a team-high five wins and a 2.38 ERA. The two pitchers are in front of a stellar defense that sits just a tick (.001) below Fordham's conference-leading fielding percentage of .965.
 
Up Next
The Rams will host Lehigh for one contest next Tuesday, April 5, at Bahoshy Softball Complex with a 4 p.m. start time and welcome A-10 foe St. Bonaventure for a doubleheader the following day starting at 3 p.m.