Baton Rouge, La. – The Fordham softball team's 2018 campaign came to an end on Saturday afternoon at the hands of #21 Louisiana-Lafayette, 15-3. The Rams made things interesting in the first inning but ultimately the Ragin Cajuns prevailed to advance. With the loss, Fordham ends its season with a 33-23 overall record.
"I'm really proud of the group we brought here," Head coach
Bridget Orchard said, "These weren't the results we wanted but we got the experience we wanted. We're a young team and they fought and battled until the end. I really can't ask for more. I want to thank our outgoing players,
Lauren Quense and
Madi Shaw, for all that they've given this program over their time in this uniform. They have been special players for us from day one."
Louisiana-Lafayette scored four runs in the opening half inning against both
Paige Rauch and
Madie Aughinbaugh. Fordham responded immediately, though, with its first runs of the regional, plating three with a big two-out rally.
Skylar Johnston drew her first of two walks in the game with one out and, with two outs, four singles brought three Rams home.
Chelsea Skrepenak punched a single to center and
Maria Trivelpiece notched her third straight hit dating back to Friday with a single to right center to score Johnston. Quense laced a single the opposite way to score Skrepenak and
Deanna Burbridge beat out an infield single to keep the rally alive.
The Ragin Cajuns added a fifth run, unearned, in the second off Quense who came in to relieve Aughinbaugh. The graduate allowed a pair of singles to reach before the fielding error but got out of the jam with three straight outs. Louisiana went to its bullpen, as well, in the second, going to KJ Trahan, who kept the Rams off the board.
Quense worked a clean third frame, the team's first of the tournament, with a pair of groundouts and, after an error and a walk, help from Johnston at third base who made a spectacular reaction dive to her right to snag a line drive. Skrepenak led off the third with a booming double off the wall in left and advanced to third on a passed ball but Trahan was able to keep her at third with three straight outs. Louisiana-Lafayette plated four runs in the fourth and six more in the fifth off Quense and
Anne Marie Prentiss.
Trivelpiece led the way offensively by going 3-for-4 over two days with a run batted in and a run scored. Skrepenak added a pair of hits, including the team's lone extra-base hit. Johnston didn't tally a hit but walked three times and scored once.
Skrepenak finishes her junior campaign leading the team with a .331 batting average, third with a .395 on-base percentage, and fourth with a .548 slugging percentage, notching 16 extra-base hits on the year, including a career-best eight home runs. Johnston paced the squad with 57 hits and 12 doubles, adding 14 home runs and 38 runs. Both Burbridge and Rauch each finished above .300, the latter notching a team-best 16 home runs and 28 extra-base hits, plus 41 walks, tied for third-most in a single season.
Rauch and Aughinbaugh combined for a tremendous 1-2 punch in Atlantic 10 in the circle and finished with 1.66 and 2.99 ERAs, respectively, and a combined 30 wins. Aughinbaugh's eight shutouts are tied for third-most in a single season.
Quense goes down as one of the program's top pitchers, finishing her five-year career with five A-10 championships and placing high on several of the school's top pitching lists. Her 125 appearances and 101 starts each rank third all-time, her 48 wins are tied for fourth-most, and her 37 complete games sit fifth. She also ranks third with 550.0 innings pitched, fourth with 328 strikeouts, and seventh with nine career shutouts.
Madi Shaw, likewise, goes down as one of this program's greatest hitters. In addition to setting the single-season record with 74 runs driven in as a junior, Shaw finishes inside the top-three in all three triple slash categories, third with 157 RBIs, fourth with 39 career home runs, seventh with 330 total bases, and seventh with 88 walks.
