Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team clinched a first-round bye as either the first or second seed in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament with a doubleheader sweep against George Mason on Saturday and have ascended back atop the league standings thanks to Dayton's two losses on the road at Massachusetts. With the results, the Rams improve to 34-18 (17-4) on the season, while the Patriots fall to 22-24 (8-12) overall.
With a win tomorrow, Fordham can clinch its' third-ever A-10 regular season championship, although a loss can still keep them in first place so long as Dayton loses to the Minutewomen.
This 2016 campaign has already seen its fair share of dramatic finishes and game one of Saturday's doubleheader was no different. Despite just one run being scored between the two teams through four innings, the game finished 6-5 and included two clutch home runs from the trailing hosts.
Lauren Quense had allowed just one run through her first four innings with six strikeouts but a three-run fifth gave the Patriots a 4-0 lead and took the junior out of the circle. George Mason scored its first run in the third on three straight two-out singles. In the fifth, Quense allowed a pair of singles to start the frame before striking out Casey Price but a Julia Czarnecki infield single loaded the bases. Liz Seymour drove in Brooke Sullivan with a sacrifice fly before Jessica Middleton powered a two-run two-out double to right center. Quense struck out Marina Vitalich to end the frame.
The Rams offense, which had stranded six runners on base through the first four innings, came alive in the fifth with a strong four-hit one-out rally culminating in a no-doubt grand slam off the bat of
Sydney Canessa on a first pitch fastball to tie the game at four apiece. George Mason got its lead right back with back-to-back doubles in the sixth off
Lindsay Mayer to lead, 5-4, before the junior struck out McKenzie Jones and induced a groundout.
Facing yet another deficit, the Rams battled back. Quense ripped a single down the left field line to start the frame and
Bridget Orchard pinch ran for her first baseman with
Maria Trivelpiece. Two pitches later and
Ally Vergona roped the go-ahead two-run home run into the high left field netting to retake the lead, 6-5.
With Mayer in line to pick up her sixth win of the year, against no losses, coach Orchard brought out
Rachel Gillen for her first appearance in the circle since an injury on April 3. Gillen worked around a one-out single to notch her first career save, ending the contest on a three-pitch strikeout.
Similarly to game one, both offenses struggled to string together any hits for the first four innings until a huge seven-run burst from Fordham in the fifth opened the game up. Gillen made her first start for the Rams since an injury in early April and twirled a complete game shutout, allowing just five singles and a walk while punching out seven.
Fordham mustered just two singles and two walks against Sarah Kleinfelter in the first four innings but the offense found its groove in a huge fifth frame.
Madison Shaw walked to open the inning and Vergona floated a double down the right field line to put two runners in scoring position and nobody out. Quense's RBI single to center in the next at bat proved to be the game winner but the Rams tacked on six more. Vergona scored on a fielder's choice,
Morgan Figueroa scored
Maria Trivelpiece, again running for Quense, on a RBI infield single and stole second, as well.
Amy Van Hoven knocked in both Figueroa and
Jessica Hughes with a sharply hit single to right center before both Mayer and Shaw produced back-to-back RBI doubles to put the home team up 7-0.
Things got a little interesting in the sixth when the Patriots loaded the bases on a fielding error and two singles with nobody out but Gillen reached back and struck out both Jessica Middleton and Samantha Zaccari looking before inducing an inning-ending fly out. The graduate student notched her 12
th career shutout with a clean seventh, working around a two-out single, with two more strikeouts, to put Fordham back atop the A-10 standings.
Gillen made the 93
rd and 94
th appearances of her career on Saturday to jump from seventh in the all-time ranks into a tie for fifth with Jamie Giguere, while also moving into sole possession of fourth place with 36 career complete games and the 12 shutouts. The win was Gillen's 45
th.
Hughes started both contests off with walks, making it seven straight games in which she's reached base in the first inning via the free pass, but uncharacteristically was thrown out trying to steal second in both instances.
The Rams face George Mason tomorrow in the regular season finale, beginning at 1 p.m., which can be seen live on the A-10 Digital Network and wfuvsports.org. A win and Fordham will clinch its third regular season title in program history.
