Top-Seeded Softball Heads to the Atlantic 10 Championship

Watch | Live Stats
Championship Central | Bracket

Bronx, N.Y. – The 2019 Atlantic 10 regular season champion Fordham softball team (26-23, 16-6 A-10) earned a first-round bye at this week's Championship and will play #5 Saint Joseph's (26-23, 13-10 A-10) on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals.
 
The 'Watch' link above will be updated later today with a direct URL for tomorrow's contest.  
 
Inouye Named A-10 Coach of the Year, Aughinbaugh Named Pitcher of the Year
First-year head coach Melissa Inouye was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year by her peers for leading the Rams to their sixth-ever regular season title with a 16-6 league record and a 26-23 overall record. Aughinbaugh continued her career trajectory going from All-Rookie to Second Team selection to being named the conference's Pitcher of the Year and a First Team member this season. In addition to them, senior Jordy Storm was named to the First Team, as well, Maria Trivelpiece earned Second Team distinction and All-Academic honors, and freshmen Makenzie McGrath and Sarah Taffet were named to the All-Rookie squad. All of the awards were career firsts for the respective players. Read more about it here.  
 
Last Time Out
Fordham clinched the program's sixth regular season championship, and third in the last four years, on Senior Day Saturday. The Rams fell in a tight opening game, 1-0, before winning, 8-5, in game two, which ultimately secured the title for Fordham, as UMass also split on Saturday at George Mason and both school's Sunday games were cancelled due to rain. Junior Madie Aughinbaugh nearly willed the Rams to victory in game one by allowing just one unearned run in the seventh inning with a season-high 10 strikeouts and no walks. Aughinbaugh also went 2-for-2 with a walk in the game, the lone Ram to reach base more than once. Fordham rebounded in game two, however. After two scoreless innings, Julia Martine got the scoring started with a solo home run, which Rhode Island answered in top of the fourth on a sac fly. The Rams went ahead with five runs right after, the final run proving to be enough for Makenzie McGrath to notch her 10^th win of the year.
 
Series History
Fordham leads the all-time series with Saint Joseph's, 37-30, since 1996, the first year the Rams competed in the A-10. One of the program's oldest and longest rivalries, the Hawks dominated the series over the first decade of games before the Rams ripped off six straight between 2004 and 2007. Since, Fordham has dropped just nine contests to Saint Joseph's over the last 11 years. At Bahoshy Field in mid-April, Fordham swept the Hawks by a combined 23-4 score. The Rams took a pair of pitchers duels, 3-1 and 2-1, during Saturday's doubleheader before exploding for 18 runs over five innings in the series finale, a season-high.
 
How We Got Here
The Rams finished league play with a 16-6 record, with six straight conference series wins and a split, to top the Atlantic 10 standings. At the dish, the team slashed .333/.392/.503 as a team, led by five players batting over .350 – Storm, Trivelpiece, Hubertus, Roark, and Aughinbaugh at .410, .397, .386, .377, and .368, respectively. Three of those five hold an OPS above 1.000 and the quintet have combined for 20 home runs. Storm led the A-10 with 32 hits, 22 runs scored, and seven home runs, while sporting a team-high .782 slugging percentage thanks to 14 extra-base hits. Roark leads the way with 24 RBI, plus six home runs, while Hubertus led with 11 walks. In the circle, Madie Aughinbaugh did what she usually does – turned her game up a notch in conference play. The junior finished with an 11-2 record over 15 starts with 12 complete games, one shutout, and a 1.77 ERA, second-lowest in the league, over 91.0 frames. McGrath stepped up in a big way down the stretch, making three starts and going the distance in all three, producing an overall 5-2 record in-conference with a 4.48 ERA over 10 appearances.
 
Among their compatriots in league action, Fordham has four players in the top 20 for average (Storm, Trivelpiece, Roark, and Aughinbaugh), two in on-base percentage (Roark and Storm), and three in slugging (Storm, Roark, and Michael). Storm leads the conference with 32 league hits, 14 extra-base hits, and 22 runs scored, and is tied for the lead with seven home runs. Aughinbaugh's 11 wins second-most in the conference, four more than the next pitcher, Saint Joseph's Ashley Ventura. Aughinbaugh's 1.77 ERA sits second-lowest behind Kiara Oliver.
 
Fordham is in the top three in the triple slash categories, including tops with a .333 average, and leads the conference in hits and total bases, are second with 25 home runs, 119 RBIs, 54 extra-base hits, 133 runs, 55 walks, and a .503 slugging percentage. The Rams' team 3.09 ERA is fourth-lowest among pitching staffs.
 
NCAA Ranks
Nationally, the Rams rank 30^th in average (.307), 51^st with 1.00 home runs per game, 51^st with a .464 slugging percentage, and 55^th with 5.31 runs per game. The team is also 99^th with a 1.89 strikeout/walk ratio. On the players side, Molly Roark's 0.29 home runs per game sits 52^nd nationally, while her 14 home runs rank 43^rd. Madie Aughinbaugh's typically stingy performances have led to a 1.39 walks per seven innings rate, ranked 48^th overall, while her 3.74 strikeout/walk ratio ranks 70^th. She's also 110^th with 127 strikeouts. Chelsea Skrepenak sits 106^th with 0.86 runs scored per game.
 
Program Ranks
Junior tri-captain Madie Aughinbaugh continues her climb up the all-time pitching ranks. The Port Tobacco, Md. native has moved up to seventh with 99 appearances, fifth with 74 starts, third with 46 complete games, sixth with 313 strikeouts, and eighth with a 2.56 ERA. She also moved into a tie with Rachel Gillen ('16) and Lauren Quense ('18) for fourth with 48 career wins. Chelsea Skrepenak is now up to eighth all-time with 133 runs scored and now solo seventh with 34 career stolen bases, moving past Jamie Chastain ('03) and Allison Twarowski ('08). Molly Roark's 14^th home run of the year moved her into a tie for seventh in a single year alongside Katie Davis ('05) and Skylar Johnston ('18). Check out the softball record book HERE.
 
Aughinbaugh Named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week
The junior has four Pitcher of the Week honors to her name in her career but she earned her first Player of the Week award with a terrific two-way performance. Read about her week here.
 
Four More Weekly Honors
Aughinbaugh also earned A-10 Pitcher of the Week honors earlier this season, while three others earned their first career Player of the Week accolades with excellent weeks – Rachel Hubertus, Jordy Storm, and, most recently, Kylie Michael. 
 
Fordham Picked to Finish Second in Preseason Coaches' Poll
For the first time in seven years, the Rams were not been predicted by the league's coaches to finish atop the A-10 standings. Instead, Fordham was picked to finish in a tie with Dayton for second. Read more about the annul preseason poll here.
 
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
A win means a trip to the semi-finals, while a loss drops the Rams into the losers' side of the bracket.
 
Continue to keep up to date with the program on social media: @FordhamSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, and here at FordhamSports.com!