Softball Travels to Massachusetts for Three-Game Set

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (31-10, 7-2 A-10) earned a 2-1 record in midweek nonconference action but now resets its focus on Atlantic 10 play this weekend at Massachusetts (17-17, 6-2 A-10). Due to the Easter holiday, Sunday's typical series finale now becomes Friday's series opener at 3 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader, beginning at noon, remains the same.  
 
Fans can follow along with the action via the links above.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams walked off winners against Iona on Tuesday afternoon at Bahoshy Field on a Lindsay Mayer sacrifice fly and split Wednesday's doubleheader at Lehigh. The only two blemishes against a trio of Fordham pitchers on Tuesday came on two solo home runs by Kristen Turner. Lauren Quense made her 23^rd start of the year and allowed one Turner blast over three innings, with two other singles and no walks while striking out four. Taylor Stocks allowed the other in the sixth but was otherwise stellar, allowing a single in two frames. Aughinbaugh pitched one perfect inning and picked up her 11^th win thanks to the winning run. Both Jessica Hughes and Sydney Canessa singled with one out in the seveth, moved over a base on a wild pitch, and Mayer's deep fly to right ended the game, giving the Rams their 30^th victory of the year. Read about it, here.
 
The Fordham offense struggled to get anything going against Lehigh starter Christine Campbell in game one as the Mountain Hawks got to Quense early and remained in the lead throughout of an eventual 4-1 win for the hosts. The senior allowed all four runs in three innings before Stocks came on in relief yet again with two scoreless innings.  In game two, Aughinbaugh twirled a gem, shutting Lehigh down completely over the first five innings before an error and a double broke up both her no-hit and perfect game bid on consecutive batters. The initial batter scored the unearned run but Aughinbaugh was otherwise stellar, allowing one other single over her seven frames. The Rams offense gave her all the run support she'd need in the first inning, Hughes singling up the middle to lead off the inning and scoring all the way from first on a long Canessa single to the left center gap. Later in the inning, Skylar Johnston's two-out single would score Madison Shaw, the eventual game winner. Read more about the doubleheader, here.
 
Series History vs. Massachusetts
The Minutewomen are Fordham's most-played opponent and also hold a 46-17 all-time record against the Rams dating back to the latter's debut in the Atlantic 10 in 1996. The two schools have met 16 times in the postseason, as well, including once last spring. Massachusetts was the cream of the A-10 crop for a long time and dominated the early part of this series; the Rams scored just two runs in eight contests prior to 2000 and didn't get their first win until a home doubleheader sweep in 2005. The Minutewomen would get their revenge, though, with two wins in the A-10 Championship, played in the Bronx that year, to end Fordham's title hopes. The Rams again won in 2009, once, on the road, and again in 2010 once in the postseason. Since then, though, Fordham has enjoyed more success against UMass, with 12 wins in 17 games since the start of the 2011 season, including 10 of its last 11. The Rams took two of three last year in the Bronx and won, 6-2, in the semi-finals on Sunday morning of the final day of the A-10 Championship.
 
NCAA Rankings
The Fordham softball team is enjoying one of its best statistical seasons through nine weeks of play and it is reflected in the Division I rankings. The Rams offense has scuffled slightly recently, dropping its team average down to .299, ranked 56^th nationally and joint-fifth in the program's history, after ranking first at .310 just two weeks ago. Fordham ranks 19^th in the country with an average of 6.10 runs scored per game, due to its high average, on-base percentage (.398 – 24^th), slugging percentage (.460 – 40^th) , home run rate (0.83 – 53^rd), and stolen base rate (1.76 – 33^rd). Fordham has continued its terrific performances in the circle, though, with the 25^th-best ERA nationwide (1.94) and a very steady defense behind them (.968 – 53^rd). The Rams rank first in the A-10 in all of the above except batting average, ranked third.
 
Individually, hitters Jessica Hughes and Madison Shaw continue their excellent seasons and remain among Division I's elites, plus Fordham's trio of pitchers continue making their climbs up the leaderboards, as well. Hughes' struggles at the plate over her last few games has dipped her batting average to .409, ranked 75^th in the country, but she remains an on-base machine (.536 – 18^th) and is also top-50 in slugging, as well, ranked 43^rd at .748. Her 86 total bases rank 31^st and second in the A-10, and her 1.05 runs per game rank 25^th and first, respectively. Shaw is up to ninth in the nation with 48 runs batted in and her nine home runs rank 50^th. Hughes (20^th – 0.82), Quense (48^th – 0.69), and Canessa (72^nd – 0.61) all rank in the top-75 in walks per contest. Canessa, just like last year, remains one of the tougher hitters to strike out, ranking 68^th overall with a strikeout every 21.0 at-bats. She's struck out just six times while walking 25 times.
 
Quense's 15 wins, two away from her personal-best set last year, rank 30^th in the country and first in the league, and her 1.82 ERA ranks 83^rd. Surrounding her is Stocks (77^th – 1.80) and Aughinbaugh (96^th – 1.91). Stocks ranks 28^th overall with just 4.43 hits allowed per seven innings, too.
 
Fordham at 51st in latest NCAA RPI
The Rams opened with an initial RPI ranking of 35^th three weeks ago but have since dropped 16 spots, despite only losing three contests between then and now. The losses have come against Hofstra (then 55^th) and Saint Joseph's (now 190) and George Mason (239). The Rams remain the top team in the northeast according to the rankings, however, but are just one ahead of Boston College.
 
Baylor, who the Rams defeated in the season opener, 1-0, is ranked ninth overall. The Rams have also defeated top-50 teams in Tulsa (30), Florida Atlantic (37), and Northwestern (50). You can check out the rankings here.
 
Leading Off
The Rams offense has been especially potent this season and a big part of that is leadoff hitters consistently reaching base. Jessica Hughes is one of the country's top leadoff hitters, batting .553 whenever leading off, although that's down from her absurd .632 average that she carried into last weekend's series.  She's not the only one, as Sydney Canessa (.542), Lindsay Mayer (.419), and Madison Shaw (.367), all reach at an above average clip or better, as well as Van Hoven before her injury (.375). As a team, Fordham leadoff hitters have a .369 batting average (97-for-263) after going 11-for-21 over midweek.

Patience is a Virtue
The Rams are one of the most patient teams in the country, racking up 171 walks already, tied for fifth-most in school history, and are doing it more than they strike out, to boot, with just 167 strikeouts on the year. The walk total nearly doubles up Saint Louis' 99, next-most in the league.
 
Situational Stats
Other reasons for the Rams offense being so successful this year is driving in runners in scoring position. As a team, Fordham is batting .318 (134-for-421) with a runner on second, third, or both, and .333 (25-for-75) with the bases loaded. Also, with a runner on third and less than two outs, the Rams bat a blistering .543 (69-for-127).
 
Meanwhile, the pitchers hold opponents to an overall .219 average. Leadoff hitters do reach base at an above-average pace (.310) but the Rams are limiting opponents after that to just .206 with runners on.
 
Quense Tosses 14^th No-Hitter in Program History
The senior hurler was lights out against Bryant on Sunday, February 19, tossing six innings of no-hit ball, allowing just a fourth-inning walk, plus a batter that reached on an error later in the contest, with three strikeouts. Quense became the fifth Ram to ever throw a no-hitter in program history. 
 
Keeping up with the Record Book
Canessa's two hits over the weekend move her out of a tie and into sole possession of fifth all-time with 220, now 13 back of Van Hoven. She continues her climb up several lists, already in the top-five in four-year batting average, at-bats, runs scored, doubles, total bases, walks, and sacrifice hits, and just outside in home runs, RBIs, and on-base percentage. In two appearances against the Patriots, Quense became the eighth Ram to reach 250 career strikeouts and her 1.72 ERA ranks eighth-best in a single season.
 
The 2017 Softball team currently is ranked fifth in nearly every measurable stat this far into the season: batting average (.299), slugging percentage (.460), ERA (1.94), and a .968 fielding percentage.
 
You can check out the record book, here.
 
Fordham Softball Archived Stories
It's been a very active first three months for the Fordham softball team, including 15 weekly A-10 awards, a no-hitter, and a 31-10 record through nineweeks. You can read all of the team's archived stories from this season and beyond, here.
 
Fordham Quick Facts
You can find this season's full schedule, roster, and quick facts, plus last year's season statistics, all here.
 
Fordham Picked to Successfully Defend A-10 Title
The Rams received nine of 10 first-place votes in the preseason coaches' poll, it was announced last week. Fordham has won four straight conference tournament titles and five of the last six, plus three regular season championships in the past six years, as well.
 
The Rams return all eight position player starters, losing only starting pitcher/DP Rachel Gillen. Second Teamer Lauren Quense returns for her senior campaign to anchor a staff that will include three freshmen. The Rams have six newcomers, five freshmen and one sophomore transfer, and will have one more underclassmen this season than upperclassmen.
 
Welcoming New Faces
The program welcomed six new players to the Bronx this season: pitchers Madison Aughinbaugh, Taylor Stocks, and Stephanie Rundlett, infielders Skylar Johnston and Brielle Cerchio, and outfielder Deanna Burbridge. You can read about the first four signing their NLIs last winter here. Aughinbaugh and Rundlett were named their respective states' Players of the Year. Head coach Bridget Orchard has also announced five recruits for the class of 2021 that have recently signed their NLIs.
 
Up Next
The Rams remain on the road for a doubleheader at St. Bonaventure next Wednesday afternoon, beginning at 2 p.m. After that, Fordham will have back-to-back weekend series against conference opponents George Washington and Dayton.