On This Date: Baseball & Softball Record First Ever NCAA Regional Wins

On This Date Presented by Belmont Realty

With the 2020 spring sports season canceled by the COVID-19 outbreak, we at Fordham have decided to dig back through our archives and provide our fans with content on some of the outstanding teams and student-athletes who have graced Rose Hill over the years
 
May 21, 2010 – Box Score | Photo Gallery - Fordham Softball tallied their first-ever NCAA Regional win as the Rams sent Maryland to the loser's game with a 2-1 victory over the Terps at the Robert E. Taylor Stadium.  Shortstop Samantha Pellechio hit the eventual game-winning RBI-double in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Fordham the go-ahead run.

The Rams victory was the first-ever NCAA win for a Fordham women's team. It was also the first NCAA win since the football team defeated Northeastern during the 2002 Division I-AA playoffs.
 

Jen Mineau tallied the win for the Rams, posting 12 strikeouts, eight of which swinging.
 
Maryland took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Leftfielder Vangie Galindo got on base with a bunt single. Galindo scored on Hickey's single to right field.

After getting out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the fourth inning, Fordham finally got their offense moving as Jocelyn Dearborn led off with a bomb over the left field fence to even the score at one, her 12^th of the season.

The Rams then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning.  Jamie LaBovick got things started for the Rams with a single to left center. Pellechio then sent a double to the right field wall sending LaBovick in to home plate for the go-ahead run.

Mineau and the Fordham defense shut down Maryland in the seventh with a line out and two strikeouts to close out the historic win.  Dearborn, Pellechio and LaBovick were the only Fordham batters to get hits for the Rams, while Mineau scattered seven hits and two walks for her 33^rd win of the season.
 
Fordham lost their winner's bracket game against #14 Oklahoma in an All-American pitcher's duel, 1-0, between Mineau and Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts.  Each had identical lines with five hits and one walk allowed to go with nine strikeouts, but the difference was a solo home run by Sooners' catcher Lindsay Vandever.
 
The Rams rebounded from that loss to defeat Maryland again, 5-2, to advance to the regional final.  The big hit in that game were a two-run double by Beckah Wiggins in the third inning to give Fordham a 3-1 lead.  Fordham added to the lead with an RBI-double by Dearborn in the sixth and an RBI-triple from Nicole Callahan in the seventh.  Mineau struck out seven in the win, allowing two runs on four hits for her 34^th win of the year.
 
In the regional final against Oklahoma, the Rams were once again stifled by Ricketts, as she tossed a two-hit shutout, winning by a 2-0 score.  The incredible season for Fordham came to an end with a record of 49-12, setting the school record for wins in a season.
 
May 21, 1987 – Georgia Box Score (PDF) | Dartmouth Box Score (PDF) - After an incredible run to win the ECAC Championship, the 1987 Fordham baseball team earned a berth into the NCAA Championship, traveling to the Northeast Regional, hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
The regional which featured Georgia Tech, Georgia, Michigan, Dartmouth, Fordham, and Rider, was stacked with some of the best pitchers in collegiate baseball with five eventual first round MLB draft picks, who all saw significant success in the majors.  In the first two days, fans saw Derek Lilliquist (#6 overall – 1987) and Cris Carpenter (#14 overall – 1987) from Georgia, Mike Remlinger (#16 overall - 1987) from Dartmouth, Pete Harnisch (#27 overall - 1987) from Fordham, and Jim Abbott (#8 overall – 1988).
 
For Fordham, Harnisch got the nod in the first game against Georgia's Lilliquist, and quickly found out why Atlanta has the nickname, "Hotlanta."
 

"I wish I was kidding but it was 95 degrees or more on that field, but we found a way," remembered Harnisch.
 
Fordham scored early for a 1-0 lead in the first inning, and added two in the fifth for a three-run edge.  Georgia answered as Steve Carter, who eventually reached the major with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Roger Miller each drove in a run in the fifth to cut the Fordham lead to 3-2.
 
The Rams got a run back in the seventh to lead, 4-2, as Jerry Curley drove in a run and took that lead into the ninth.  There, the Rams got some more cushion when catcher Tom Levy hit his fifth home run of the year for a 5-2 lead off Lilliquist.  He joined Jack Allen in the home run act, as Allen had hit one earlier in the game.
 
Though he allowed one run in the ninth, Harnisch, throwing close to 170 pitches for Fordham, got through the final inning for the complete game victory, recording the first ever NCAA win for the Rams.  He improved to 8-1 on the year, allowing three runs on 10 hits with seven strikeouts.  For Lilliquist, it was only his second loss all season against 13 victories.
 
"Georgia was a stud team, but just like the ECAC (Tournament), different heroes showed up and led us to the win," said Harnisch.
 
With the win, Fordham believed they would be facing Michigan in their next game, but a funny thing happened.
 
"I went out to scout the next game and Mike Remlinger from Dartmouth throws a gem against Michigan, so I'm facing Dartmouth," said Scott Wasserfall, the Rams' #2 starter.
 

Though it was a night game, the weather was still a factor.

"You would have thought after 95 in the blazing heat on day one, we'd catch a little break with the night game, but it was still in the 90s and very humid," said Wasserfall.
 
Like the first game, Fordham got the all-important early lead, scoring three times in the first inning.  The score remained at 3-0 until solo home runs by Jack Strauch and Tom DeMerit in the fifth and sixth innings cut into the Rams' lead, making it, 3-2.
 
The eighth inning was the big inning, as Wasserfall was relieved by Paul Darrigo after 7 1/3 innings with runners on base.  A ball was hit into centerfield with the tying run heading for home, but Jack Allen's throw from the outfield was on target to Levy for the out at home.  Darrigo then struck out the final batter to maintain the one-run lead.
 
The Rams tacked on an important insurance run in the bottom of the frame, while Darrigo retired the side in order in the ninth to pick up his second save on the year.  Wasserfall improved to 7-1 on the year, recording his third postseason win, as he allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts.  At the plate, Brad Howland was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Chris Fiacco and Kevin Condon each had a pair of hits.
 
"It was a pretty sweet run with six straight postseason wins.  I will always cherish that season," said Wasserfall.
 
The postseason win streak would unfortunately come to an end with losses to Rider and Georgia, as the Rams ended the year with a 33-13 record.  It was Fordham's first 30-win season since 1978.