Softball Splits Sunday Doubleheader, Takes Series vs George Washington

PDF Box Scores: Game One | Game Two | Photo Gallery (Game One) | Highlights
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team split Sunday's doubleheader against George Washington and picked up the series win two games to one. The Colonials bested the Rams in game one, which started at 10 a.m., 5-1, before Fordham enacted revenge with a 12-0 one-hit run-rule victory in the series finale. With the results, the Rams improve to 36-13 on the year and 12-5 in Atlantic 10 play, while George Washington moves to 24-21 overall and 7-10 in league play.
 
Fordham's day began sluggishly, totaling just four singles and an unearned run against Sarah Costlow, while committing three errors in the field. Game two was a different story, with the Rams offense scoring in all four innings that they were up to bat, with three home runs and a combined one-hitter between Lauren Quense and Taylor Stocks.
 
Meanwhile, senior Sydney Canessa continued to cement herself among Fordham's all-time greats by breaking the program record for career runs scored and also drawing her 100^th career walk on the day, becoming just the third Ram to reach the century mark.
 
Madison Aughinbaugh got the start in game one and was perfect through two innings, including striking out the side in the second, before allowing a pair of singles sandwiched around a sac bunt for the game's first run. The Rams answered in the bottom of the frame, with Ally Vergon'a sacrifice fly driving in Lindsay Mayer after the senior and Madison Shaw had both advanced to second and third, respectively, on a passed ball to give them the scoring opportunity.
 
The Colonials put two on in the fourth but left them stranded, as did the Rams in the bottom half, with two runners in scoring position with one out and later the bases loaded with two outs. The decisive blow came in the fifth when Morgan Rinehart scoring on a Jessica Linquist single up the middle. Rinehart led off with a single and advanced to second on what was deemed an illegal pitch by the umpires, then scored on Linquist's knock. George Washington added three more in the final two innings on two home runs, one by Riley Tejcek and then a two-run bomb from leading Rookie of the Year candidate Jenna Cone.
 
Aughinbaugh finished with five runs allowed, four earned, on eight hits and one walk, while striking out six, to fall to 14-5 on the year.
 
Fordham's offense was hot out of the gate, plating four in the first inning of game two off Faith Weber. Jessica Hughes walked after Canessa grounded out to start the game and advanced to third on a Shaw single through the right side. Skylar Johnston, who had missed the first game due to an illness, got the start in game two and drove in three in the game, the first coming on her first inning single to score Hughes. Vergona reached on a fielder's choice that saw Shaw tagged out at third and Mayer walked to load the bases with two outs. Aughinbaugh drew a second straight walk to score Johnston and Storm smacked the first pitch she saw through the right side to drive in two more runs.
 
Canessa roped a solo home run to left centerfield to lead off the second inning off new pitcher Jayme Cone and Mayer later drove in two, Johnston and Hughes, with a two-out double down the right field line. In the third, Johnston drove in both Canessa and Storm on a lined double down the left field line to open up the run rule possibility. At that moment, Canessa became the program's all-time leader in runs scored, with 182.
 
The Colonials notched their lone hit in the contest with a two-out Paige Kovalsky single to left center in the fourth. Fordham responded with three runs on two home runs in the bottom of the fourth, all with two outs, first Chelsea Skrepenak's second dinger of the year, into the left field netting, and then a no-doubt bomb from Hughes to straightaway center, scoring Canessa. Taylor Stocks entered the game to see things out, working around a leadoff error by Hughes at short, with help from Aughinbaugh in right who doubled up Gabby Gallone at first after a flyout. Stocks struck out Rochelle Draper to end the game.
 
Five Rams enjoyed multi-hit games, led by Johnston's 3-for-3 game two performance, with a pair of doubles, three RBI, and two runs scored. Storm continued her solid play of late with three hits in six at-bats, driving in a pair, while Shaw finished 2-for-4 with a trio of walks. Hughes finished just 1-for-3 with three runs but walked five times on the day and also stole her 22^nd base. Her fifth walk made it 43 on the year, which ties Elise Fortier's single-season record, set in 2013.
 
In the circle, Aughinbaugh went the distance for the ninth time this season, and Quense earned her 18^th win of the year, besting last year's previous career-high of 17 victories.
 
The Rams round out the home portion of their conference schedule with a three-game series against Dayton in the Bronx next weekend. Saturday's doubleheader will also be Senior Day, with six Rams honored between the two contests. The day will begin at noon and Sunday's series finale will start at 1 p.m.