Softball Hosts Providence in Midweek Nonconference Action

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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (22-20, 14-3 A-10) will take a break from Atlantic 10 action amidst its 10-game win streak to host Providence (25-18, 6-8 Big East) in a one-off meeting on Wednesday afternoon, March 24^th, at 4 p.m.
 
Fans can follow along with the action via the links above.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams notched their eighth, ninth, and 10^th wins in a row in a sweep of Saint Joseph's over the weekend, the team's third straight in league play, with back-to-back stellar pitching performances on Friday from Madie Aughinbaugh and Makenzie McGrath and a 16-run second-inning offensive explosion in the series finale. Aughinbaugh limited the Hawks to one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts to notch her 12^th win of the year, while McGrath coasted to her first complete game victory in game two. The Rams never trailed in the series, although game was tied briefly. Rachel Hubertus singled in Chelsea Skrepenak to begin the scoring and Saint Joseph's tied things up via a Molly Kapala solo home run. Kylie Michael plated the go-ahead run the following inning with an RBI single and Jordy Storm mashed her ninth home run of the year to cap the scoring. McGrath, making her second career start, coasted through six frames with just two hits and a walk allowed before running into trouble to start the seventh, allowing a pair of hits, plus an error, as the visitors cut their deficit in half, 2-1. McGrath was left in and the freshman battled back to induce three straight outs to close out the game.
 
Game three was one of the most high-scoring in Fordham's history (although the NCAA record is an astounding 29 runs in a single inning). Of the 19 at-bats in the frame, 13 went for hits. There were also a pair of stolen bases, a walk, and four errors committed in the field, although just two runs were unearned. All told in the game, the Rams scored 18 runs on 17 hits, while Aughinbaugh held the Hawks to just two unearned runs on four hits. To read more about Saturday's fireworks, click here.
 
Series History
The Rams hold a 3-1 all-time series advanced over the Friars since 2009. Providence won that first meeting, 4-3, but Fordham has won three straight since, including a doubleheader sweep three years ago at Bahoshy Field by a combined 13-3 score. Then-freshmen Chelsea Skrepenak, Jordy Storm, and Maria Trivelpeice all scored one run apiece as pinch runners, while Skrepenak started and played both contests in right field.  

Conference-Only
The Rams are 14-3 in league play this season, with six straight conference series wins, to finally ascend to the top of the standings. At the dish, the team is slashing .339/.399/.514 as a team, led by six players batting over .350 –Storm, Michael, Trivelpiece, Roark, Hubertus, and Aughinbaugh at .443, .438, .421, .404, .386, and .367, respectively. Five of those six hold an OPS above 1.000 and all six have combined for 20 home runs. Storm leads the way with 27 hits, 20 runs scored, and six home runs, while sporting a team-high .836 slugging percentage thanks to 11 extra-base hits. Roark leads the way with 18 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 10-0 over 12 starts with nine complete games, one shutout, and a 1.68 ERA over 71.0 frames. McGrath is next with a 3.46 ERA over eight league appearances with a 4-1 record.
 
Among their compatriots in league action, Fordham has three players in the top eight for average (Storm, Michael, and Trivelpiece), in on-base percentage (Hubertus, Michael, and Roark), and in slugging (Storm, Michael, and Roark). Storm and Michael rank third and fourth, respectively, in the latter. Trivelpiece's team-high 24 hits rank third, while Aughinbaugh's 22 rank sixth. Storm leads the conference with six home runs in league play, while Roark is tied for second with five and is second with 18 RBIs.  
 
NCAA Ranks
With plenty of offense during their 10-game win streak, the Rams have moved up the national leaderboards, as well, ranking 37^th in average (.305), 43^rd with 1.00 home runs per game, 52^nd with a .462 slugging percentage, and 57^th with 5.33 runs per game. The team is also 108^th with a 1.74 strikeout/walk ratio. On the plyers side, Molly Roark's 0.31 home runs per game sits 34^th nationally, while her 13 home runs rank 31^st. Madie Aughinbaugh's typically stingy performances have led to a 1.56 walks per seven innings rate, ranked 81^st overall, while her 3.18 strikeout/walk ratio ranks 92^nd. She's also 122^nd with 105 strikeouts.
 
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 up to seventh with 95 appearances, sixth with 71 starts, third with 43 complete games, sixth with 291 strikeouts, and eighth with a 2.58 ERA. She is also one win away from joining Rachell Gillen ('16) and Lauren Quense ('18) in a tie for fourth, with 48. Chelsea Skrepenak also stole her 32^nd career base over the weekend, moving past Erin Fisher ('10) and into a tie for seventh all-time with Jamie Chastain ('03) and Allison Twarowski ('08). Molly Roark's 13^th home run of the year put her in a tie for ninth along with five others, including former teammate Madi Shaw ('18). Check out the softball record book HERE.
 
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 two weeks ago. 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 three weekends ago and was named the league's Pitcher of the Week as a result. Read more 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 wrap up their road portion of the regular season with a three-game series at second-place Massachusetts this weekend. Saturday's doubleheader is set for 11 a.m. and Sunday's series finale will begin at noon.
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!