Houston, Texas – The Fordham softball team began its 2020 campaign on Friday with a pair of tough one-run losses. The Rams fell to Valparaiso in the opener, 5-4, and UMass Lowell, 9-8, after. With the losses, Fordham begins its eighth straight Atlantic 10 title defense with an 0-2 record.
"Definitely not the results we wanted, but we saw some good things to build off of," Head coach
Melissa Inouye said, "I thought we had some good at-bats today and ran the bases well. It's a long season and we'll stay with our process of getting better each game."
Valparaiso put two runs on the board in the opening frame after
Madie Aughinbaugh, making her 106
th career appearance and 81
st start, allowed a walk and a home run to begin the contest. The senior settled down after that, striking out the next two batters before inducing a line out to end the inning. Newly christened co-captain
Brianna Pinto led off the game and season for the Rams with an infield single and stole second. Fordham tied the game up through
Sarah Taffet at cleanup with a two-run double to left center to score Pinto and
Michaela Carter, who had walked. Fordham doubled its tally through another underclassmen – freshman catcher
Amanda Carey, who ripped a two-run shot to right to score herself and
Kelly Bright, who walked right before her.
Aughinbaugh allowed a single and a hit over the next four frames before a two-run sixth. The Crusaders strung together three hits with one out and scored two on a two-run double by Lauren Kehlenbrink. Valparaiso pushed ahead with a RBI single but it may have been two if
Katelyn Vara hadn't thrown out the second runner at home.
Pinto, Carey, and
Julia Martine each notched a pair of hits, with the first two also reaching once via walk. Aughinbaugh went the distance, her 53
rd complete game, and struck out five.
Freshman
Devon Miller enjoyed a bright start to her collegiate career, homering to right on the second pitch she saw this season to lead off the second frame. She also made her first career start in the circle, tossing two hitless innings but running into trouble in the third and fourth frames. Despite that, she finished the game without getting out at the plate, with a pair of hits and a walk. The Rams added three more runs in the top of the third via a hit-by-pitch, a pair of errors, and an Aughinbaugh RBI single. The Rams loaded the bases but the River Hawks were able to escape the jam. UMass-Lowell cut the deficit to one run in the bottom half of the frame with a two-out, three-run home run by Sparacia.
Fordham responded with a three-spot of its own in the fourth, all with two outs. Carter reached on an infield single, Aughinbaugh walked, and Taffet singled to the pitcher to load the bases. Miller drew a walk and then two runs scored on an error by the shortstop, making in 6-3. UMass-Lowell got within one again with another two-out home run, this time a two-run shot by Labbe. Miller allowed back-to-back singles to open the fifth and was replaced by junior
Anne Marie Prentiss, who allowed the River Hawks to tie the game on a one-out fielder's choice but limited the damage to that one run. UMass-Lowell, however, broke through the next inning with a three-run home run by Lizzi, who provided the eventual go-ahead run.
The Rams rallied in the seventh with
Kelly Bright singling to lead off and advancing to second on an error. The redshirt sophomore advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Carter's infield single. Aughinbaugh and Taffet were sent down, though, to end the game.
Four different Rams tallied three hits on the day – Carey, Carter, Pinto, and Taffet, while Carter led the way by reaching base five times. Carter and Bright scored a team-high three runs between the two contests and the squad went 5-for-5 on the basepaths.
Gianna Ranieri recorded a team-high three walks.
Fordham is back in action on Saturday with a 3 p.m. contest against Valparaiso and an 8 p.m. meeting with the hosts, Houston. The latter will have video coverage.
