Softball Begins Title Defense Against George Washington on Thursday

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Atlantic 10 Championship returns to the Bronx for a fourth time this week as the Fordham softball team (30-21, 18-4 A-10) looks to win its sixth consecutive league title and eighth all-time. The Rams earned the #2 overall seed, as Massachusetts broke their streak of two straight regular season titles, and a first-round bye and will play #6 George Washington on Thursday, May 10, at 2:30 p.m.
 
Every contest this week will be streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network. Fans can also listen and follow along with live stats and twitter updates via the links above. Fans can also purchase tickets via the link above or at the Bahoshy Softball Complex.
 
Last Time Out
After suffering four straight losses, the team's first since April 4, the Rams rebounded with a sweep of La Salle over the weekend to match the program record of 18 conference victories, set and matched each of the last two years. Fordham swept Saturday's doubleheader with an 8-0 five-inning game one victory and then 3-1 in game two before capping the sweep with a 5-2 win on Sunday. The Rams trailed just once, after a one-run first frame by the Explorers in the series finale. Madie Aughinbaugh tossed her seventh shutout of the year by limiting the visitors to three hits and a walk over her five frames while striking out three as the offense jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning and tacked on three more runs over the following two frames. Next it was Lauren Quense's turn to shut down the Explorers as the graduate student fired a complete game allowing just one solo home run and two other hits with no walks and five punchouts. Paige Rauch capped a sensational regular season with the team's first double-digit strikeout performance of the year, striking out 11 over seven frames with just two runs allowed, one earned, on four hits and a walk.
 
The rotation combined for a 0.74 ERA with 19.0 strikeouts over 19.0 innings, all three pitchers going the distance. Freshman Brianna Pinto led the offense with a .625 average and a team-high five hits, scoring twice, driving in one, and stealing three bases. The Rams as a team went 12-for-12 in steals for the weekend.
 
Tournament History
The Rams hold a 32-21 (.604) record in conference tournaments since they joined the Atlantic 10 in 1995. During the current five-year run of championships, Fordham holds a 17-3 record since 2013. The Rams have hosted the championship on three occasions – in 2005, 2009, and 2014, winning in the latter. Massachusetts won in the other two years, defeating Fordham in the final in 2005 and Saint Joseph's in 2009.
 
Rauch Named A-10 Rookie of the Year, Skrepenak, Shaw, and Aughinbaugh Named All-Conference
The Rams were once again well-represented on the A-10's end-of-season awards list and the program has its sixth Rookie of the Year in Paige Rauch. She also became the second student-athlete to be named All-Conference as both a pitcher and a position player and the first to be named First Team for both (Fordham's Rachel Gillen was named Second Team as a designated player in 2015). Chelsea Skrepenak earned First Team All-Conference recognition and both Shaw and Aughinbaugh landed on the Second Team at shortstop and pitcher, respectively. Shaw and Skrepenak also earned All-Academic distinction. Read more about the awards HERE.
 
Rauch Named Top 25 Finalist for Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year
Paige Rauch has been a steady force at the top of the Fordham lineup and in the circle and was recently named A-10 Rookie of the Year for her performance. Earlier this season, Rauch was named one of the 25 best freshmen in the country. Rauch has slashed .303/.448/.684 with a team-leading 14 home runs, 40 RBIs, 38 walks, and 48 runs scored, and is 14-2 with a 1.58 ERA over 22 appearances and 14 starts.
 
Pinto Named Co-Rookie of the Week
Breanna Pinto was named A-10 Co-Rookie of the Week on Monday after hitting .583 over the past week.  It is the Franklin Square, N.Y. native's first league honor. For the season, Pinto is hitting .293 with 24 runs scored and a team-high 13 stolen bases. Read more about her week, HERE.
 
NCAA Ranks
As a team, the Rams rank within the top-100 in five categories: Fordham averages 1.06 dingers per contest (19^th) and 5.43 runs per game (41^st) and has a .446 slugging percentage (60^th), a 2.36 K/BB ratio (56^th), and a 2.88 team ERA (84^th). At the individual level, a few Rams are within top-100's. Rauch ranks 20^th with 0.75 walks per game, 35^th in the nation with 0.94 runs per game, 21^st with five triples, 39^th with 14 home runs, 84^th with a .680 slugging percentage, and 74^th with 104 total bases. Her 1.58 ERA also sits 40^th nationally and second in the A-10. Johnston is tied with her for home runs and above her, at 56^th, with 109 total bases. Shaw's 13 home runs rank 48^th. In the circle, Aughinbaugh's 4.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks 26^th in the country, while her 0.98 walks allowed per seven innings ranks 11^th.
 
Atlantic 10 Ranks
The Rams leads the Atlantic 10 with 54 home runs (14 more than George Washington and Saint Louis), are second with 249 RBIs, third with 277 runs, and fourth with 370 hits. Fordham also tops the league with both 187 walks and 328 strikeouts. In the circle, the Rams' 2.88 team ERA ranks second over the fourth-most innings (332.2). The Rams' .944 fielding percentage, though, ranks eighth.
 
The Rams have three in the top-20 for on-base percentage. Rauch is fourth at .448 and is joined by Shaw (.444) at sixth and Johnston at 17^th (.401). The quartet of Rauch (4^th – .684), Johnston (5^th - .653), Shaw (7^th - .609), and Skrepenak (12^th - .543) sit within the top-12 for slugging percentage together. Only George Washington has more than one player in the top-12. Rauch is up to 38 walks on the year to lead the league, as the only player with more than 30, which is also ranked seventh-most in a single season at Fordham. Lauren Quense's 19 free passes are also tied for 10^th. The freshman's five triples are also tied for first and her 48 runs are third-most. Brianna Pinto's 13 stolen bases are tied for seventh in the league, followed by Skrepenak's 12 at nine and Aughinbaugh tied for 16^th with nine. In the circle, Rauch has fallen out of the top spot and is back behind former Pitcher of the Year Manda Cash with a 1.58 ERA. Aughinbaugh, with a 2.88 ERA, sits ninth. Rauch and Aughinbaugh are tied for second and fifth, respectively, with 14 and 13 wins.
 
Program Ranks
Shaw and Quense continue to be mainstays throughout the record books for hitting and pitching, respectively, with the former recently tying Sydney Canessa for third all-time with 156 RBIs. Shaw is top-three in all of the triple slash line categories and is now up to fourth with 39 home runs and seventh with 86 walks. Quense, meanwhile, 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. She's also become just the third Ram to make 100 starts. Aughinbaugh has enjoyed a tremendous two seasons in maroon and white and recently joined the top-10 for wins, now solo eighth with 31 career victories, just moved past Quense for career shutouts, with 10, for sixth all-time, and just entered the all-time top-10 for strikeouts, with 181. The sophomore, among pitchers with 200 or more innings, is also sixth all-time with a 2.43 ERA. With their 14^th home runs of the season on Wednesday, Rauch and Johnston have also joined Katie Davis (2005) for sixth-most in a single campaign in school history. Rauch will also likely finish somewhere in the top-10 for on-base and slugging percentages, as well. Check out the softball record book HERE.
 
Slugging Trio
This is the fourth time a Rams team has featured three players with double-digit home runs and is the first time that three players have at least 13 round-trippers on the year. Rauch and Johnston lead the way with 14 with Shaw right behind at 13 for a combined 41 on the season. Those are more than in 2006, when Allison Twarowski, Laura Klaiber, and Lisa Busciacco had 10 each, and in 2010, when Erin Fisher, Beckah Wiggins, and Jocelyn Dearborn combined for 40. The record is 43, set in 2014, by Elise Fortier (20), Gabby Luety (13), and Kayla Lombardo (10).
 
Tickets on Sale for A-10 Championship
Tickets for this week's Championship are available online or in person. Prices are $24 for adults and $12 for children under 17 and seniors over 65 for ALL sessions. Read more about it, 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 617-375 record in the Bronx.
 
Win Number 800
Fordham's next win will be the program's 800^th. The Rams have an all-time 799-806 record.
 
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
Check the bracket up above for all of Fordham's possibilities going forward.  
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!