Softball at Rutgers on Wednesday Afternoon

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (9-17, 2-1 A-10) will look to keep its momentum going after taking a tough conference-opening series at George Washington over the weekend when it travels to Rutgers (15-14, 0-3 B10) for a nonconference meeting on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.  
 
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Last Time Out
The Rams traveled down to George Washington to begin Atlantic 10 play this past weekend and took two games out of three. Fordham won the series opener, 9-4, and the series finale, 4-2, while dropping the middle game, 6-3. Led by Madie Aughinbaugh both at the plate and in the circle and newly announced Player of the Week Jordy Storm, the Rams tallied 19 total runs over two days. Aughinbaugh outdueled Sierra Lange in game one and got the scoring started herself in the first inning with a two-run single. Storm doubled and moved to third on Maria Trivelpiece's single before the junior drove them both in. Aughinbaugh then tossed a scoreless frame, including strikeouts of Lange and Jenna Cone. The Colonials would tie the game and go ahead in the third before the Rams rallied in the fifth. Storm mashed a solo home run to lead off the frame, her fourth in seven days, and two more runs scored on an error and a Gianna Ranieri RBI single, the latter proving to be the game winner. Back-to-back doubles by Deanna Burbridge and Chelsea Skrepenak added another run and a bases-clearing triple by Burbridge in the seventh put the game out of reach. Eight of nine starters notched at least one hit, while Aughinbaugh went the distance. Fordham went ahead early in game two with a two-run home run by Rachel Hubertus in the opening frame but, aside from a bases-loaded walk by Storm, the bats went cold thereafter as George Washington scored six runs off Ranieri, making her third start, although only two were earned.
 
Aughinbaugh kept it going in the rubber game, plating a pair of runs with two RBI singles and again went the distance, her ninth complete game of the year, with just two runs allowed. Molly Roark provided the game-winning hit with a two-out, two run double in the sixth. The Colonials scored first with two runs in the second but Aughinbaugh held them off the board the rest of the way.

Storm Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Senior Jordy Storm earned her first career award on Monday when the league named her the Player of the Week. The Walla Walla, Wash. native garnered the recognition by slashing .429/.467/1.000 at the plate over a 2-2 week for the Rams. Read more about her week here.
 
Series History
Fordham leads the all-time series with the Scarlet Knights, 5-3, since 1999. Rutgers won the series' first three contests at the turn of the century, twice in 1999 in the Bronx and one in 2001 on neutral ground, by a combined score of 24-1. The two schools have met four times since 2012 and the Rams have won all four by a combined score of 34-11, including a pair of five-inning victories at N.C. State in 2017. Trivelpiece went 3-for-6 in those games with an RBI and a run scored, while Aughinbaugh earned a win in the second game with three innings of one-run ball. Former Ram and current Scarlet Knight Jessica Hughes went a combined 2-for-4 with five runs, four walks, and two solo home runs.
 
Atlantic 10 Ranks
The Rams powerful offense has them ranked highly among their conference contemporaries. Fordham ranks second with 24 long balls, 102 RBIs, a .420 slugging percentage, and 300 total bases, third with 55 extra-base hits, 110 runs, and a .273 batting average, and fourth with 195 hits. Roark and Hubertus rank second and third, respectively, with eight and six home runs, while Storm is right behind tied for fifth. In the circle, Aughinbaugh has made the fourth-most appearances and Is second with nine complete games and third with 63 strikeouts.
 
NCAA Ranks
One area the Rams have been successful in this year has been the long ball – the team ranks 54^th in the country with 0.92 round-trippers per game on the year, which tops the A-10. Molly Roark leads the way with eight bombs, ranked just outside the top 50 in the nation, and 51^st with 0.31 per game. Both marks are second in the conference behind GW's Jenna Cone. The team is also 95^th with a 1.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 108^th with a .420 team slugging percentage. The squad is also 134^th in Division I with a .273 batting average.
 
Program Ranks
Junior tri-captain Madie Aughinbaugh continues her climb up the all-time pitching ranks. Over the weekend, the Port Tobacco, Md. native moved into and out of a tie with Jaime Giguere ('04) and Michele Daubman ('15) for sixth-most all-time, now one behind former teammate Lauren Quense ('18) for fifth. She also moved past Giguere into eighth with 386.1 career innings and is one away from 40 career wins and a tie with Chelsea Plimpton ('11) for seventh all-time. She ranks ninth with 84 appearances, eighth with 61 starts, and ninth with 249 strikeouts, as well. Senior Chelsea Skrepenak stole her 30^th career base in game two this weekend, moving into a tie for 10^th all-time with former teammate Sydney Canessa ('18). She is on pace to join the all-time ranks for runs scored and possibly a few others. Check out the softball record book HERE.
 
Hubertus Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
The sophomore picked up her first career piece of hardware by being named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week in mid-February. Hubertus earned the accolade following an eight-game hitting streak and slashing .464/.483/.821 overall over nine starts at the hot corner. She is second on the team with six home runs and 14 runs, third with 25 hits, and fourth with 13 RBIs. Read more here.
 
Fordham Announces Melissa Inouye as Head Coach
Replacing 17-year head coach Bridget Orchard this summer is former assistant coach Melissa Inouye, who spent the past six seasons at nearby Iona College, taking the Gaels to one NCAA Tournament and one NISC Tournament, the latter after a MAAC regular season championship. Inouye, a two-time MAAC Coach of the Year, brings along her assistant Matt Klampert to the same position and added former Dartmouth standout and Saint Francis graduate assistant coach Katie McEachern to her staff.
 
2019 Schedule
Conference play begins in earnest at George Washington on March 23^rd. See the entire schedule here.
 
Fordham Picked to Finish Second in Preseason Coaches' Poll
For the first time in seven years, the Rams have not been predicted by the league's coaches to finish atop the A-10 standings. Instead, Fordham has been picked to finish in a tie with Dayton for second. Read more about the annul preseason poll here.
 
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.
 
Up Next
The Rams travel to George Washington to start league action with a three-game series. Both Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale are set for 1 p.m.
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!