Softball Hosts Saint Joseph's this Weekend

Schedule | Live Stats

Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (19-20, 11-3 A-10) will take its seven-game win streak, six in conference play, into this weekend's three-game series against Saint Joseph's (21-16, 9-3 A-10). Due to forecasted inclement weather, the series' doubleheader will take place on Friday beginning at 10 a.m., while Saturday will be just a standalone game at noon.
 
All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can get each game's unique link via the schedule page and can also follow along with live stats. Both links are above.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams picked up their seventh win in a row with a 16-2 five-inning rout of Hofstra on Wednesday afternoon at Bahoshy Field. Fordham did so with a 12-run second inning, sending 18 batters to the plate in the frame alone and recording seven walks and six hits. Before that, the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Molly Roark drove in Chelsea Skrepenak, who had doubled, with a single. The Pride took the lead shortly after on a two-out, two-run double, their lone runs of the game. Makenzie McGrath picked up her sixth win of the year after allowing those two runs over her three frames before giving way to Madie Aughinbaugh, who allowed just two baserunners over two scoreless innings, while striking out four. All nine Fordham starters notched at least one run scored and one RBI and all but Jordy Storm recorded at least one hit, as well. Read more about the eventful afternoon here.
 
Series History
The Rams hold an all-time 34-30 series advantage over the Hawks since 1996, their first year in the Atlantic 10. One of the program's oldest and longest rivalries, the Hawks dominated the series over the first decade of meetings before the Rams ripped off six straight between 2004 and 2007. Since, the Rams have dropped just nine contests to Saint Joseph's over the last 11 years. A year ago, Fordham took two out of three on the road from the Hawks, falling in the most recent contest, 4-1. In game one, Madie Aughinbaugh tossed a five-hit shutout with seven strikeouts. In game two, Molly Roark smashed her first career home run for the Rams, a grand slam in the second inning. Kylie Michael also added a bases-clearing double in the seventh. In game three, Anne Marie Prentiss doubled Roark home for her first career hit and RBI.

Conference-Only
The Rams are 11-3 to begin league play this season, with five straight conference series wins, to sit in second place in the standings despite having the most league wins. At the dish, the team is slashing .332/.400/.501 as a team, led by five players batting over .350 – Michael, Trivelpiece, Storm, Roark, and Hubertus at .522, .447, .415, .395, and .372, respectively. Those five all hold an OPS above .980 with a combined 16 home runs. Storm leads the way with 22 hits, 17 runs scored, and five home runs, while sporting a .811 slugging percentage thanks to a team-high 10 extra-base hits. Michael's 1.000 slugging percentage leads the way, though, over her 10 appearances. Roark leads the way with 16 RBI, while Hubertus leads with 11 walks. In the circle, Madie Aughinbaugh does what she usually does – turns her game up a notch in conference play. The junior is 8-0 over 10 starts with seven complete games, one shutout, and a 2.44 ERA over 59.0 frames.
 
Having played the most contests (11), it's not surprising to see several Rams atop the conference leaderboards. Storm leads the Atlantic 10 in runs, hits, and home runs, while her average sits 10^th, just behind Trivelpiece (.447) and ahead of Roark (.395). Storm is third in slugging, while Hubertus, Roark, and Trivelpiece are sixth and joint-seventh, respectively, in on-base percentage. Aughinbaugh's eight wins are three more than the next closest rival.
 
Michael Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
A few weeks after Jordy Storm earned her first career piece of hardware, another Ram senior has earned hers – Kylie Michael. The Chino Hills, Calif. native returned from an injury lay-off to slash a brilliant .622/.722/1.375 over five consecutive wins this past week. Read more about her career week here.
 
Aughinbaugh Named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week
The junior fired two more complete games, one a shutout, to help the Rams to a pair of victories over Dayton at home two weekends ago and was named the league's Pitcher of the Week as a result. Read more here.
 
NCAA Ranks
With plenty of offense during their seven-game win streak, the Rams have moved up the national leaderboards, as well, ranking 46^th in average (.300), 60^th in slugging percentage (.454), and 73^rd in runs per game (5.15). The Rams are also 51^st in home runs per game (0.97 per contest). Molly Roark's 12 home runs rank 39^th nationally and 41^st with 0.31 per game, both second in the A-10 behind GW's Jenna Cone. She is also 109^th overall with 0.90 RBIs per game. The team is also 122^nd in strikeout to walk ratio (1.67). Aughinbaugh has been her usual stingy self in limiting free passes – she ranks 100^th with a 1.64 walks/seven innings rate, while Makenzie McGrath isn't far behind at 143^rd with a rate of 1.81. Aughinbaugh's 3.03 K/BB ratio also ranks 106^th and her 97 strikeouts are 124^th nationally.
 
Program Ranks
Junior tri-captain Madie Aughinbaugh continues her climb up the all-time pitching ranks. With her second start of the weekend, the Port Tobacco, Md. native moved into a tie for sixth with Rachel Gillen ('16) with 69 career starts and into a tie for third with Melissa Curley ('97) with 41 complete games. Her appearance against Hofstra tied her with Chelsea Plimpton ('11) for eighth with 93. She is at 45 career victories, as well, three behind Gillen and Lauren Quense ('18). Chelsea Skrepenak also stole her 31^st career base over the weekend, moving past Sydney Canessa ('17) into a tie for ninth all-time with Erin Fisher ('10). Check out the softball record book HERE.
 
Storm Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Senior Jordy Storm earned her first career award two weeks ago 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.
 
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.
 
2019 Schedule
Fordham will be home for most of the remainder of the regular season. 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 host Providence next Wednesday afternoon, April 24^th, at 4 p.m. in nonconference action before traveling up to Massachusetts for a three-game series next weekend.
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!