Amherst, Mass. – The Fordham softball team competed in its first Atlantic 10 contest in nearly two years on Friday and swept a doubleheader against longtime rival Massachusetts behind stellar pitching performances by
Madie Aughinbaugh and
Devon Miller. With a win streak that has now crept up to 10 straight, the Rams move to 13-3 overall and 2-0 to begin league action.
"We did a really good job producing with two outs and extending innings." Head coach
Melissa Inouye said, "A few smart baserunning reads and we executed some small ball that led to some important runs. Augie and Devon did a good job with pitching back-to-back complete games, mixing pitches, and getting some key strikeouts. "
Aughinbaugh and Miller both went the distance and struck out a combined 19 Minutewomen. Miller now as back-to-back double-digit punchout efforts, while Aughinbaugh helped her teammate out in game two with a go-ahead three-run jack, her second homer of the year, and improved to 7-0 overall on the year in the circle.
Aughinbaugh and UMass's Jessie DiPasquale were locked in a pitchers duel for much of game one after each allowing runs in the opening frame. Aughinbaugh used her speed to put Fordham on the board early, beating out an infield single, stealing second, advancing to third, and scoring on a shallow pop-up in the outfield. The graduate student gave the run back to the hosts in the bottom half of the frame on a RBI single and a second, unearned, run came across with two outs after an error kept play alive the play before. Neither team could get to the other pitcher for three frames afterwards until the fifth when
Sarah Taffet produced a clutch RBI double to right to score Aughinbaugh, who had walked just before her. Sophomore
Michaela Carter provided the go-ahead run in the sixth, again with two outs, singling up the middle to score
Gigi Speer, who was pinch-running for
Rachel Hubertus. A four run scored in the seventh when Taffet, who had tripled to center, scored on a
Julia Martine bunt single. Aughinbaugh closed the door emphatically, striking out her seventh batter to end the game.
DiPasquale took to the rubber again in the second game and held the Rams to just one hit and one walk through four innings, both coming in the first inning when Aughinbaugh tripled to left to lead off the contest and Martine walked but both were left stranded. The Rams struck four all four of their runs with two outs in the fifth. Miller drew a walk, Carter singled to short, and
Brianna Pinto drove in the former with a single down the left field line. The next batter, Aughinbaugh, smacked a three-run bomb to left to give Miller all the run support she'd need. Miller ran into some trouble in the sixth after three consecutive one-out singles loaded the bases but the sophomore battled back to strike out two straight batters looking to escape the jam and then punctuated her fourth win of the year with three strikeouts in the seventh.
Aughinbaugh, Carter, and Taffet each notched three hits over the doubleheader, with Aughinbaugh scoring three times and driving in three. Martine also enjoyed a multi-hit day with both knocks coming in game two.
The Rams and Minutewomen will conclude their four-game series with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon. ESPN3 will carry live coverage.
