Softball Travels to Rhode Island for Three-Game Set this Weekend

Live Stats
Twitter Updates @FordhamSoftball
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (20-17, 8-1 A-10) is on its second five-game win streak of the season, including three straight in conference play, as it embarks on another weekend road series against Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island (9-23, 3-5 A-10). Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale will both begin at noon.
 
Just live stats for this weekend's games which can be found via the link above or on Rhode Island's schedule page.  
 
Last Time Out
Fordham cruised to a 6-1 road win at Iona on Tuesday afternoon. Skylar Johnston got the scoring started with her ninth home run of the year, a solo shot to straightaway centerfield, and Lauren Quense limited the Gaels to just one unearned run over her seven complete innings. Kylie Michael and Chelsea Skrepenak and each notched multi-hit days, the former doubling and the latter driving in two and matching a program single-game record of three stolen bases. Also reaching safely multiple times were Johnston, Quense, and Paige Rauch.
 
Series History vs. Rhode Island
Fordham leads the all-time Battle of the Rams series, 31-16, since it joined the Atlantic 10 for the 1996 season. Rhody won the first eight contests and 14 of the first 18 through the 2003 season but it's been primarily Fordham ever since. Aside from a doubleheader sweep in the Bronx in 2012, Fordham has won every contest since 2004, which amounts to 26 wins. Since those losses, the Rams are on a 10-game winning streak, including three five-inning run-rule victories at home a year ago. Fordham holds a 13-5 record in Kingston.
 
NCAA Ranks
As a team, the Rams rank within the top-100 in five categories: Fordham averages 0.92 dingers per contest (43^rd), 5.22 runs per game (58^th), 0.22 triples per contest (70^th), has a .427 slugging percentage (84^th), a 2.07 K/BB ratio (86^th), and an even 3.00 team ERA (97^th). At the individual level, a few Rams are within the top-100. Rauch has been excellent at the plate and in the circle to begin her Fordham career and ranks 22^nd with four triples, 22^nd with 1.03 runs scored per contest, 23^rd with 0.73 walks per game, and 56^th with her 1.64 ERA. Skylar Johnston's 0.32 doubles per game ranks 58^th. The trio of Johnston, Rauch, and Madi Shaw have averages of 0.24, 0.24, and 0.25 home runs per game, ranked 80^th and 72^nd, respectively. In the circle, Aughinbaugh's 5.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks 32^nd in the country, while the sophomore is tied for tops in all of Division I… with just one hit batter all year, tied with 15 others. Skrepenak's .398 batting average has her up to 97^th, as well.
 
Atlantic 10 Ranks
The Rams rank joint-first with 34 home runs, joint-second with 193 runs, second with 179 RBIs, and fourth with 258 hits. Fordham also tops the league with both 126 walks and 249 strikeouts. In the circle, the Rams' 3.00 team ERA ranks second over the third-most innings (240.2). Skrepenak's .398 average ranks third and her .454 on-base percentage ranks fourth. Right behind her in the latter top-10, at fifth and 10^th are Rauch (.446) and Storm (.434). Rauch's .651 slugging percentage ranks fourth, right ahead of Skylar Johnston at five (.613) and Skrepenak at eight (.582). Johnston leads the league with her 12 doubles, while Rauch leads the way and is the one of just three A-10 players to walk 20 or more times (27). Her four triples and 38 runs are both second-most. Aughinbaugh is one of three pitchers to reach 10 wins on the season and her 105.0 innings pitched are second-most, just the second player to hit the century mark thus far. Her 71 strikeouts rank fifth and her 3.07 ERA sits ninth, while Rauch's 1.64 ERA sits second-lowest just .08 behind Dayton's Manda Cash.
 
Program Ranks
While Madi Shaw and Lauren Quense have continued to steadily climb various program top-10s, one player has made an early appearance on several – Madie Aughinbaugh. Shaw continues to be a fixture in the triple slash line categories and is now up to seventh with 141 RBIs, joint-sixth with 34 home runs, and joint-ninth with 69 walks, while Quense sits within the top-three of several pitching categories and most recently entered the top-five with her 35^th career complete game at Iona on Tuesday. Aughinbaugh, meanwhile, has enjoyed a tremendous season and a half in maroon and white and recently joined the top-10 for wins, now tied for eighth with 28 career victories, and shutouts, tied for seventh with seven. The sophomore, among pitchers with 200 or more innings, is also sixth all-time with a 2.46 ERA. A year ago, Aughinbaugh just got into the top-10 for single-season wins, with 18, and this season is one of 20 in school history with at least four shutouts. Check out the softball record book HERE.
 
Coach Orchard Earns Win Number 600 in Maroon and White
Bridget Orchard celebrated her 700th career victory last season with a 7-0 shutout in game one of a doubleheader against Saint Joseph's last April 2nd and reached another milestone this past weekend at home, tallying her 600th win as Fordham head coach in style, with a 21-0 win over Detroit Mercy last Sunday. In her 17th season at the helm, Orchard has a 607-371 record in the Bronx.
 
Aughinbaugh and Rauch's Earlier Honors
Aughinbaugh and Rauch had each previously earned their respective awards earlier this season. To read more about each, click here and here, respectively.
 
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.
 
Fordham Softball Archived Stories
Read up on Fordham's offseason turnover, season previews, game previews and recaps. 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 host St. Bonaventure next Wednesday for an A-10 doubleheader, beginning at 2 p.m.
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!