Washington, D.C. – The Fordham softball team opened up Atlantic 10 play on Saturday with a doubleheader split at George Washington, taking the opening contest, 9-4, before falling, 6-3, in game two. With the day's results, the Rams move to 8-17 overall and 1-1 in league action, while the Colonials move to 22-8 and 1-1, respectively.
"I liked our energy and the way we swung the bats as we had some good, timely hitting," Head coach
Melissa Inouye said, "It was good to get on the board first and Aughie competed the entire game. Unfortunately, in game two, we didn't execute as well on defense and offense and it hurt us."
Madie Aughinbaugh outdueled GW's Sierra Lange in game one and got the scoring started in the first inning with a two-run single.
Jordy Storm doubled to right with one out and moved to third on a
Maria Trivelpiece single. Aughinbaugh followed with a single to right center to score the pair then struck out two in a perfect first, including Lange and Jenna Cone. The Rams put runners on the corners with two outs in the second but were unable to capitalize, which allowed the Colonials tog et within one in the frame with a two-out RBI single by H Eslick. The hosts tied the game in the third on a double steal of second and home, with Lange scoring the run. The hosts again tallied one run in the fourth on a trio of one-out singles before the Rams pushed ahead the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the fifth.
Storm ripped a solo home run to lead off the frame, her fourth in the past seven days, and two more runs sored on an error and a
Gianna Ranieri RBI single, the latter proving to be the eventual game winner. Back-to-back doubles by
Deanna Burbridge and
Chelsea Skrepenak made it a three-run lead for Fordham in the sixth, although George Washington got one back in the bottom half on a RBI single. Burbridge put the game out of reach with a two-out bases-clearing triple to right center in the top of the seventh to cap the game's scoring, driving in
Kylie Michael, Ranieri, and
Julia Martine.
All but one starter for Fordham notched at least one hit in game one, led by Storm's 3-for-4 effort. Burbridge and Trivelpiece each tallied two hits. Aughinbaugh went the distance for an eighth time this year, allowing four runs on 12 hits with a walk and four strikeouts over her seven frames to pick up her fourth win of the year.
The Rams took an early lead in game two on a first-inning two-run bomb by
Rachel Hubertus, the sophomore's sixth of the season, but the Colonials chipped away with three unearned runs in the second and three runs in the fourth as Faith Weber kept Fordham to just a bases-loaded walk by Storm in the sixth the rest of the way.
Molly Roark and Martine each tallied two hits apiece to lead the way in the game. Skrepenak stole her 30
th career base during the contest, moving her into a tie with former teammate Sydney Canessa for 10
th-most all-time.
Ranieri made her third start in the last week but allowed six runs, two earned, on four hits and five walks over 3.2 innings before giving way to Makenzie McGrarth, who allowed three hits and a walk with a strikeout over 2.1 scoreless frames.
The Rams and Colonials wrap up the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
