Newport News, Va. – Fordham softball picked up its first two pieces of Atlantic 10 hardware on Monday afternoon with
Madie Aughinbaugh being named Pitcher of the Week and
Devon Miller the Rookie of the Week. George Washington's Faith Weber was named Player of the Week. The honor is the fourth of Aughinbaugh's career and the first for Miller.
Aughinbaugh, the reigning Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, impressed in the circle this weekend at the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Classic, recording a 1.24 ERA over 17.0 innings with 14 strikeouts, picking up a win and a save. The senior had a shout for Player of the Week honors, too, after helping the Rams with all three wins, smacking a walk-off double against Harvard, scoring the winning run in the ninth inning against UMass Lowell, and hitting a go-ahead two-run home run against Michigan State.
To start the weekend, Aughinbaugh suffered a tough-luck loss to the hosts, surrendering three runs over six frames, but bounced back the next day with a gem against the River Hawks. The Port Tobacco, Md. native matched her career-high of nine innings pitched, striking out a season-high nine, with just one walk and seven hits allowed. On Sunday, she came on in relief for two scoreless frames to secure the save against the Spartans, her second this year and fifth of her career.
"Aughie is a competitor and loves to be challenged." Head coach
Melissa Inouye said, "She pitched well all weekend and really did a good job containing good hitting teams."
Miller picked up her second win of the season against Michigan State, hurling five frames with just one unearned run allowed. She also started the opening contest of the weekend but suffered a loss with four runs over 5.1 innings against Southern Illinois, though she struck out a season-high eight batters. Over 10.1 innings, she walked away with a 1-1 record and a 2.71 ERA with 14 strikeouts.
"Devon has been learning each weekend how to pitch more effectively and be successful at this level. She gave us a great outing against Michigan State and it was nice to see her compete and execute her pitches."
Fordham has the weekend off before taking part in the Duke Invitational on March 6-8.
