16-Run Second Inning Clinches Softball's Series Sweep of Saint Joseph's

Highlights

Bronx, N.Y. – For the second time this week, the Fordham softball team scored over 10 times in a second inning, this time plating an astounding 16 in the second frame of the series finale against Saint Joseph's, eventually finishing off the sweep with an 18-2 victory. With the win, their 10^th straight, the Rams improve to 22-20 overall and 14-3 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Hawks fall to 21-19 and 9-6, respectively.
 
"We continue to swing at good pitches and hitting is contagious," Head coach Melissa Inouye said, "The team has done a great job on feeding off of each other's energy and at-bats. It's been fun to watch them swing with confidence. Aughie and Molly did well today mixing pitches against a scrappy lineup."
 
Of 19 at-bats in the second inning, 13 went for hits. There were also a pair of stolen bases, one walk, and four errors committed in the field. All told, Fordham recorded 18 runs on 17 hits, while Madie Aughinbaugh held the Hawks to just two unearned runs on four hits, with the visitors making five errors.
 
Saint Joseph's Amanda Kulp led off the game with a single up the middle but was left stranded on third after a pair of slick fielding plays by Gianna Ranieri at first and Julia Martine at third. The Rams got singles from Jordy Storm and Aughinbaugh in the bottom half of the frame but left them stranded. Aughinbaugh worked a perfect second, including an inning-ending strikeout, before the fireworks started moments later.
 
Kylie Michael, who would end the frame with a flyout 18 at-bats later, began the rally with a single to left. Sarah Taffet attempted to bunt her over to second but reached on a throwing error by pitcher Ashley Ventura, moving Michael to third. Martine drove her in with a single to left, while Taffet scored on the next play, a throwing error by Caela Abadie towards first after charging in to field Burbridge's grounder. Burbridge was thrown out, however, trying to advance to second. Chelsea Skrepenak singled to third as Martine scored and then stole second. Storm singled to right as Skrepenak scored on an error by right fielder Kirstin Cox. Molly Roark singled to center and Ventura was knocked out of the game with Aughinbaugh's three-run home run into the left field netting, replaced by Amanda Herr. Maria Trivelpiece singled to center and later stole second after Michael flied out to right. Trivelpiece scored on Taffet's opposite-field single to right, then scored herself on Martine's first career triple, high off the left centerfield wall. Burbridge beat out an infield single to first that drove in Martine and moved to second on a Skrepenak walk. Storm's hard-hit single through the right side led to both runners scoring. Roark then powered out a two-run bomb to dead center. Aughinbaugh reached on an error by Carly Rybinski at short and was pinch-ran for by Anne Marie Prentiss. The next batter, Trivelpiece, smashed her first career home run, a two-run shot, to cap the scoring and knock Herr out in favor of Chelsea Evans, who ended the inning a batter later.
 
Saint Joseph's scored in the top of the third when, with two outs, Kulp reached on an error by Taffet and came around to score on Sarah Ostaszewski's single to left center. After 1-2-3 frames on either side of the fourth, the Rams added their final two runs on an Aughinbaugh single to left, scoring Brielle Cerchio, who had walked as a pinch hitter, and Skrepenak, who scored on an error by Jancarla Herrera. The Hawks again plated an unearned run in nearly identical fashion – Kulp reaching on an error by Taffet and scoring on an Ostaszewski single. Aughinbaugh induced a grounder to herself from Molly Kapala to end the game.
 
Six different Rams enjoyed multi-hit performances on the day, while every starter recorded at least one hit. Aughinbaugh helped her own cause by going 3-for-4 at the dish with four RBI, tying her career high, while Skrepenak and Storm each reached safely three times, the former scoring thrice, the latter twice. Martine, Roark, and Trivelpiece all notched two hits, two runs, and two RBIs.
 
Aughinbaugh went the distance for a 16^th time this year and ninth time in 12 tries in conference play. The junior allowed just two unearned runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts for her 13^th win of the season.
 
The Rams hit .380 as a team compared to the Hawk's .181 average. Storm led the way with a .625 average followed by Aughinbaugh, who batted .600 with a team-high six hits, two doubles, and five runs driven in. Of the 20 RBIs on the weekend, 10 different players had at least one.
 
In 17 conference games thus far, the team is hitting .339 compared to opponent's collective average of .252. Four players – Storm, Michael, Trivelpiece, and Roark are hitting .400 or better, and five Rams have more walks than strikeouts. In the circle, Aughinbaugh is doing her thing with a perfect 10-0 record over 12 starts, with nine complete games and a 1.68 ERA over 71.0 frames.
 
The 18 runs were the most this season after Wednesday's 16 against Hofstra and most since scoring 21 against Detroit Mercy last March 18.
 
Fordham is now 9-1 at Bahoshy Field this season.
 
The Rams have just eight games remaining in the regular season, six in league play. Fordham will make its final road trip next weekend to Massachusetts but will first host Providence on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.