Lafayette, La. – The Fordham softball team picked up its first wins of the 2019 campaign on Friday with a sweep of its two contests on day two of the Ragin' Cajuns Classic. The Rams defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 10-2, in five innings, and Incarnate Word, 7-1. With the results, Fordham improves to 2-1 on the season.
"Two good team wins today as everyone played a part," Head coach
Melissa Inouye said, "Anne Marie battled and got out of some jams early and, offensively, we did a good job giving her some breathing room in the third. Molly came up big with the grand slam, but it's a credit to the players who got on base before her to give her that opportunity. Aughie was in control all game long as her and Kylie worked well together."
Fordham rebounded from its opening day loss with a combined 17-3 scoreline against today's two opponents. Senior
Molly Roark provided the offensive firepower with a combined three home runs, two in game one, and eight runs driven in.
Madie Aughinbaugh, who started and went the distance in game two, went 3-of-4 at the plate in each contest with a combined four runs scored.
Chelsea Skrepenak and
Rachel Hubertus also added solo shots.
Sophomore
Anne Marie Prentiss made her first career start against Texas A&M Corpus Christi and notched her first complete game and win, allowing two runs over her five frames with three strikeouts. Roark launched a one-out two-run shot, scoring Aughinbaugh, in the first inning and the Rams plated the eventual game-winning run in the third on a throwing error by the Islanders second baseman. Corpus Christi got within one after a two-out double by Kenn Johnson in the bottom of the third but Prentiss kept them off the board over her final two innings. The Rams plated six runs in the fourth and a 10
th in the top of the fifth to induce the run rule.
Skrepenak's one-out double in the fourth started a run with eight straight players reaching base.
Jordy Storm reached on a hit-by-pitch and Aughinbaugh singled to load the bases. Roark then powered out her second career grand slam to put the Rams up five. Two more runs followed on a
Gianna Ranieri RBI single and a wild pitch, scoring Hubertus from third. Ranieri delivered the final blow, as well, with her second RBI single of the morning, scoring
Maria Trivelpiece.
Aughinbaugh made the start in game two and set the Cardinals down in order before delivering the go-ahead runs in the bottom half of the frame with a two-run double, scoring Skrepenak and
Brianna Pinto. Hubertus made it three runs in the first with an RBI single later in the frame. Skrepenak and Hubertus added runs via solo home runs in the second and third innings, respectively, before Roark capped the day's scoring with a two-out, two-run shot in the fourth, scoring Aughinbaugh.
Aughinbaugh went the distance and allowed just one unearned run on three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts for her first win of her junior season. The Port Tobacco, Md. native now sits on 69 appearances, 49 starts, and 28 complete games, all within one of entering the respective all-time top-10 in the program record book. The win was the 35
th of her career.
Others tallying multiple hits on the day were Skrepenak, who finished 3-for-7 with three runs scored, Ranieri, and Hubertus, who finished 3-for-6 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Trivelpiece finished 1-for-2 with a walk and three runs in game one, while
Deanna Burbridge and
Anne Marie Prentiss each added a hit.
The two victories were the first under Coach Inouye.
The Rams wrap up the Classic tomorrow against Incarnate Word, at 10 a.m., and against RV/RV California right after.
