Softball Shut Out by #5/4 UCLA

Box Score (pdf)
 
Los Angeles, Calif. – The Fordham softball team's 2018 campaign got underway on Thursday night, but the first match-up was always going to be a challenge. The #5/4 UCLA Bruins, undefeated in five games during their opening weekend, threw last year's NFCA National Freshman of the Year and recent U.S. national team call-up Rachel Garcia against the Rams. The result was a 4-0 win for the hosts although Garcia's perfect game bid was broken up by Skylar Johnston with two outs in the seventh. With the loss, Fordham falls to 0-1 to begin the season, while the Bruins improve to 6-0.
 
"Overall, I'm impressed with how hard we played and that when we did make a mistake we picked ourselves back up and made big plays," Head coach Bridget Orchard said, "Turning a double play, a diving catch in the outfield, a big strikeout. I thought both Q and Aughie pitched tremendously."
 
Graduate student Lauren Quense toed the rubber on opening day for the second year in a row and tossed five six-hit innings with three runs allowed, two earned, with no walks and one strikeout. Sophomore Madie Aughinbaugh came on in relief in the sixth and allowed a lone run on two hits with one strikeout.
 
The game was scoreless until the third when an error and a single put two Bruins on with nobody out. The two advanced on a wild pitch and the first run scored on a Kylee Perez single, the second on a sac fly. UCLA's second run came the following inning on a Kinsley Washington RBI single following a Taylor Pack one-out double to right center, right before a diving Brianna Pinto catch to end the frame a batter later. Perez singled to lead off the fifth but Quense induced a fly out and double play to get out of the mini-jam in her final inning of action.
 
Aughinbaugh induced a Garcia line out with her first batter of the season but allowed a Bubba Nickles triple next, which preceded a Kelly Bright error in right that led to the final run scoring. Aughinbaugh responded by striking out Zoe Shaw and then getting Briana Perez to fly out after Washington singled to end the threat.
 
Johnston broke up the perfect game bid with two outs in the seventh with a single to third base, Fordham's lone hit on the night. Garca struck out the side in five of her seven frames, totaling a career-high 17 in the effort.
 
Debut starts came for Fordham freshmen Brianna Pinto, who led off and played left, Paige Rauch batting fifth and playing second, and Rachel Hubertus, who played short and took up the flex spot, plus a starting debut for junior transfer catcher Molly Roark, who batted seventh. Gianna Ranieri also debuted as a pinch-runner for Johnston.
 
The Rams travel to nearby Palm Springs this weekend for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, playing four games, one against nationally-ranked Utah and two against schools who have received votes in the week one polls, plus Team Japan, the world's number one ranked country, in exhibition play. First up is RV/RV California on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST.