Softball Begins 2018 Campaign at #5/4 UCLA and at Mary Nutter Classic

UCLA: Listen | Live Stats
Mary Nutter Classic: Watch
Twitter Updates @FordhamSoftball
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The 2018 season is finally here! The five-time defending Atlantic 10 champion Fordham softball program has set up a challenging nonconference schedule this year that begins at #5/4 UCLA on Thursday night at 9 p.m. EST. The Rams will stay local for five contests over the weekend in Palm Springs, four of which will be a part of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Rams will start with RV/RV California on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. EST and then UC Santa Barbara at 8:30 p.m. EST. The next day, Fordham will have a rematch with last year's NCAA Regional host Utah, ranked #15/16 to start this season, on Sunday at 3 p.m. EST before playing Team Japan, the number one country in the world, in an exhibition immediately after. The Rams will finish up the tournament against RV/RV Arkansas on Monday at 11:30 a.m. EST.
 
Fans can listen to and follow live stats for the UCLA game at the links above. Every Mary Nutter Classic contest will be streamed on FloSoftball.com, which is a subscription based service but one that Fordham can be seen on for two tournaments over the next four weeks, the other being the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic II the first weekend of March.
 
Fordham Picked to Successfully Defend A-10 Title
Like a year ago, Fordham received nine of 10 possible first-place votes and 99 points from the league's head coaches and have thus been picked to successfully defend its Atlantic 10 championship for a sixth consecutive year. You can read more about that, here. The Rams have won five straight tournament titles and six of the last seven, plus five regular season titles, as well, in the past eight years.
 
Season Review and Preview
The Rams finished the 2017 campaign with its fifth consecutive Atlantic 10 championship and second straight regular season title, posting the program's second-most victories, 46, and tying the 2016 squad for a record 18 conference wins. The team made its fifth straight NCAA Regional appearance, falling to #11 Utah and BYU, but defeating Mississippi State, 9-3, in between. Fordham garnered 12 postseason A-10 honors, including Co-Pitcher of the Year Lauren Quense and a seventh Coach of the Year award for Bridget Orchard. The Rams had five make the All-Conference First Team, one make Second Team, three All-Rookie nods, and one All-Academic. In addition, a program record six earned NFCA All-Mid Atlantic distinction and four were named ECAC All Stars. In addition, a school record three made the CoSIDA Academic All-District team. 17 team and individual records were broken a year ago, four individual single-season and two career records. The 2017 squad set school records for batting average, RBIs, runs scored, total bases, walks, and on-base percentage.
 
Among those award winners, four have since left the program, plus three-time All-Conference selection Amy Van Hoven, via graduation or transfer, among a total of eight players outgoing, including six starters.
 
Among those returning are Quense, 2017 A-10 Player of the Year runner-up Madi Shaw, First Team selection Skylar Johnston, and All-Rookie honoree Madie Aughinbaugh. Quense, who became the fifth Ram to ever throw a no-hitter last spring, enters the season within the top-five of several all-time pitching categories at Fordham and just outside in two others. The graduate student finished her senior campaign with a 22-11 record, 2.49 ERA, 18 complete games, and four shutouts across 208.1 innings. Shaw broke the school's single-season RBI record in Salt Lake City, finishing with 74 runs driven in, part of a record 21 multi-RBI games during her junior season.  Shaw's .385 batting average and 70 hits at year's end ranked sixth and fifth, all-time, while she became just the third Ram to hit 15 home runs and fourth to tally 130 total bases or more.
 
Johnston, a two-time Rookie of the Week, earned her debut First Team nod with a scorching hot conference season, batting a league-high .491/.554/.614 with a team-high 28 hits, seven doubles, 16 RBIs, and an 8/3 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Aughinbaugh, a two-time Rookie of the Week and once Pitcher of the Week, finished her freshman campaign with a 2.16 ERA across 29 appearances, 19 starts, with 10 complete games, three shutouts, and an overall 16-5 record. At the plate, the Port Tobacco, Md. native hit .294 with 25 hits, 17 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases. She recorded the game-winning RBI double to secure the team's fifth straight title last May while hurling nine complete innings with just one unearned run allowed.
 
Orchard enters her 20^th season as a head coach with a 720-397-3 career record, 16 of which have come in the Bronx. She is 40^th among active coaches in career victories, but is just one of five coaches among that group that have been coaching for just 20 years or fewer. Orchard is 50^th all-time, among all coaches, by win percentage, at .644.
 
The Rams welcome seven new faces to the program this season, six freshmen and one junior transfer. You can read about the incoming class below.  
 
Series History vs. This Weekend's Opponents
UCLA: The Rams and Bruins have met only once before, in 2012 when then-ranked #16 UCLA won, 9-5, at that year's Diamond 9 Citrus Classic.
California: The Bears hold an all-time 5-0 advantage dating back to 2001. Three times they were ranked when playing Fordham, twice at #14 in 2009 and 2010, and the #1 team in the country in 2012. Most recently, Fordham fell, 6-0, in 2015 at the Citrus Classic. The Rams have not scored against Cal since 2010.
UCSB: This will be the two schools' first-ever meeting.
Utah: Before last year's 10-0 loss in the Salt Lake City Regional, the two schools had only met once before: in 2007 when Utah won, 3-0, at the Aztec Classic in San Diego.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks hold an all-time 3-0 series lead over Fordham dating back to 2009 when they defeated the Rams, 7-3, in nine innings on neutral ground. Most recently, Fordham and Arkansas met twice in the Norman (Oklahoma) NCAA Regional in 2013 when the #24 Razorbacks defeated the Rams twice to end their season.
 
Keeping up with the Record Book
As mentioned, 17 school records were broken or tied last year. Quense and Shaw continue their climbs up the all-time lists in their final campaigns in maroon and white. Check it all out, here.
 
Fordham Softball Archived Stories
It's been a busy season, with 12 postseason accolades, 19 weekly A-10 awards, a no-hitter, several new school records, and a 46-17 overall record, the second-most wins in program history. 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.
 
Welcoming New Faces
The program welcomed seven new players to the Bronx this season, six freshmen and one transfer. Infielder Rachel Hubertus, infielder Brianna Pinto, pitcher Anne Marie Prentiss, pitcher/infielder Paige Rauch, and pitcher Gianna Ranieri were announced last November in the initial five-person class, while utility player Kelly Bright and JuCo transfer catcher Molly Roark were announced in June. Coach Orchard also revealed her initial five-player 2018 recruiting class this past fall.
 
Up Next
The Rams next head to Tampa, Fla. for a five-game tournament at the University of South Florida. In addition to playing the hosts, Fordham will play Bryant and Drake, plus two as-yet-undetermined playoff contests. The first game that weekend will be against the (Bryant) Bulldogs on Friday, Febraury 23, at 9:15 a.m.
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!