Softball Heads to 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship

Fordham Softball Schedule
Atlantic 10 Championship Central
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (36-8, 17-3) will be the #3 seed in this week's Atlantic 10 Championship as it looks to earn an eighth straight conference title and trip to the NCAA Regionals. The Rams will face off against the hosts, second-seeded Saint Joseph's (26-18, 19-3), in a rematch from this past weekend's four-game series.
 
Every game will be streamed on ESPN+ with all video and live stats links available via the above links.  
 
Last Time Out
The Rams suffered their first back-to-back losses of the campaign last weekend, falling in three of four contests to the Hawks. Head over to the team's schedule page to read each day's recap here.
 
Series History vs. Saint Joseph's
Fordham leads the all-time series with the Hawks, 39-34, since joining the Atlantic 10 in 1996. The Hawks dominated the first half of the rivalry but it's been mostly Fordham since. The Rams had won 16 of the past 20 meetings since 2015 prior to last weekend. Fordham is 10-5 against the Hawks in Atlantic 10 Championship contests; in 2019, Saint Joseph's defeated the Rams, 3-1, in the opening contest but Fordham rebounded with a resounding 10-2 win over their opponents the next day en route to a share of the 2019 title. Fordham is 12-9 in games play at Saint Joseph's all-time, as well.
 
Atlantic 10 Championship History
The Rams won their first Atlantic 10 Championship in 2011 and reached their second NCAA Regionals after earning an At-Large bid the year before. After a miss in 2012, Fordham has since rattled off seven straight conference titles, although the 2019 Championship was split between the Rams and George Washington, with the former advancing to NCAAs due to being the higher seed after the final day was rained out. That was the first season under head coach Melissa Inouye and her staff. This year's junior class took part in 2019 and the seniors in 2018, with graduates Madie Aughinbaugh and Brielle Cerchio having won three championships together from 2017-19. Aughinbaugh in each of the last two instances has been named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player.
 
Nationally Speaking (as of 5/12)
The Rams completed the regular season with the nation's 14^th-best win percentage (.818) so it's no surprise to see squad all over the NCAA Division I rankings. As a team, Fordham is within the top-100 in nearly every single category and within the top-50 in half of them. The Rams' triple slash line of .310/.393/.509 sits 32^nd, 31^st, and 24^th, respectively. Average and Slugging would currently tie and be a new school record, respectively, while the team's OBP would be second-highest. They also are scoring the 23^rd-most runs per game (6.11), have a collective ERA of 2.36, ranked 37^th overall, and are 44^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.96).
 
At the individual level, Devon Miller is up to fifth with 11.4 strikeouts per seven innings and eighth with 3.13 hits allowed per seven. Her ERA of 1.45 ranks 37^th nationally, while Anne Marie Prentiss is 49^th at 1.58 and Madie Aughinbaugh is 140^th at 2.21. Miller is also 52^nd with 149 strikeouts and 73^rd with a 4.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
 
At the plate, Brianna Pinto is 38^th in the country with her .429 batting average, while Rachel Hubertus' 1.16 RBIs per game ranks 20^th overall. Her 51 total RBIs sits 13^th in all of Division I and is already tied for eighth-most in a single year at Fordham. Bailey Enoch is up to 23^rd with 0.34 HBPs per game, as well. On the basepaths, Pinto is 16^th with 28 stolen bases and is 24^th with 0.64 per contest, leading the league in both stats.
 
Fordham Sweeps Atlantic 10 Weekly Awards
For the 12^th time in program history, the Rams took home all three weekly accolades from the league office when it was announced last Monday that Madie Aughinbaugh was the Player of the Week, Devon Miller the Pitcher of the Week, and Michaela Carter the Rookie of the Week. Read all about it here.
 
Dos Perfectos/National Pitcher of the Week
Devon Miller became just the third Ram to hurl a perfect game on April 2^nd against La Salle, the seventh in program history, striking out 12 batters over five innings then duplicated that exact same line the next day in the series finale, becoming the second Ram to toss multiple perfect games in a career and in a season, joining two-time All-American and Fordham Hall of Famer Jen Mineau. As a result, the Chadds Ford, Pa. native was named the Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week in addition to her Atlantic 10 honors, as well, becoming the second Ram, after Mineau, to garner National accolades. Read all about it here.
 
Aughinbaugh Climbing the Ranks
Madie Aughinbaugh made her 100^th career start at Stony Brook on March 30^th, becoming one of four Rams to reach the milestone. She picked up her 63^rd career win in that game and is up to 66 today. The fifth-year two-way stud is within or just outside the top-three in every single pitching category in the Fordham record book, which you can check out here.
 
Pure Thievery
Brianna Pinto and Madie Aughinbaugh continue to race each other up the all-time stolen base ranks at Fordham although the former has pulled away in the last couple months, now up into solo fourth all-time with 60 after breaking a tie with Jessica Hughes ('17). Aughinbaugh is eighth with 44. Pinto has been caught stealing just once in her entire career – as a freshman against St. Bonaventure and has successfully stolen a base on 45 straight attempts. She is also up to 28 stolen bases this year, third-most in a single campaign and just one behind Lindsey Kay Bright's mark of 29 in 2009. Jessica Hughes holds the record with 36 in 2016.
 
Miller Named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore Devon Miller scooped up her second A-10 Pitcher of the Week award and fourth total (two Rookie of the Week honors) after tossing two more shutouts this weekend, her third and fourth, at La Salle, striking out 16 over 14 innings to pick up her ninth and 10^th wins of the year. Read about her weekend here.
 
Miller Named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Again
The sophomore matched her career-high with 15 strikeouts against St. Bonaventure last Saturday leading to her fourth career Rookie of the Week honor, two this year and two in last year's shortened season. Read about her weekend here.
 
Pinto Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
Senior captain Brianna Pinto earned her first career Player of the Week honor after helping lead the Rams to a 5-0 record, including a mammoth walk-off grand slam against Stony Brook, her first career home run. Read about it here.

Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
The Rams were picked to finish second in the annual preseason head coaches poll, just one point behind George Washington despite garnering one more first-place vote. The two schools were set to meet in the Championship final in 2019 but due to a rain out, the higher seed, Fordham, moved on to NCAA Regionals despite a share of the championship. It was the Rams' seventh straight league title, eighth overall, and ninth trip to Regionals.
 
Up Next
A win against the Hawks moves the Rams ahead in the bracket to face the winner of #1 George Washington and #4 Dayton on Friday at noon. A loss and the Rams would have to play the loser of that game immediately following theirs tomorrow. As always, the Championship is double elimination so whichever team advances to the finals that has one loss will need to win twice on the final day.