Softball Cruises to A-10 Quarterfinal Win over Saint Joseph's

Photo Gallery

Philadelphia, Pa. – The Fordham softball team began the 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship by cruising to a 7-3 win over host Saint Joseph's on Thursday afternoon to advance to Friday's semifinal match-up with fourth-seeded Dayton. With the win, the Rams improved to 37-8 overall on the year.
 
"Great team win, setting the tone by scoring early." Head coach Melissa Inouye said, "I thought we competed every inning and played the game hard and the right way. Augie located well and did a great job staying within herself, using all her pitches and knowing the defense had her back. Overall, we mad some adjustments from last weekend and I'm so proud of the players for executing and trusting the process."
 
The Rams plated two runs immediately in the first inning on a two-run Rachel Hubertus home run, her 13^th of the year, and never trailed afterwards. The Hawks halved the deficit in the bottom of the first on a Caela Abadie two-out RBI single but Fordham maintained its momentum and answered with four runs in the top of the second.
 
Michaela Carter and Brianna Pinto each reached on an infield single and Julia Martine loaded the bases by dropping in a single to shallow right. Sarah Taffet drew a walk from Amanda Herr and Hubertus reached on a fielding error, each leading to a run and then a pitching change as Saige Stutz replaced Herr. Bailey Enoch  drove in Martine with a single the other way off Stutz and Bella Ayala brought home the sixth run with a groundout to second. Saint Joseph's got to Fordham starter Madie Aughinbaugh for a pair of runs in the third, coming on a deep RBI foul out to right on a nice running catch by Anne Marie Prentiss and then on another Abadie single. Aughinbaugh shook the runs off and shut the Hawks down for the remainder of the contest, allowing just two singles over the final four frames.
 
The Rams continued to threaten, putting a runner on second with two outs in the fourth but were unable to score them, but came through in the fifth with the final run of the game when Pinto singled in Prentiss, who had led off the frame with a booming double to the left centerfield gap. Aughinbaugh also doubled but was left stranded. Fordham put a runner in scoring position in each of the remaining innings.
 
Forhdam's offense totaled seven runs on 13 hits with three walks and still left 10 runners on base. Hubertus drove in a team-high three runs but four other Rams had one RBI apiece and a whopping seven of nine starters scored one run each. Aughinbaugh, Enoch, Pinto, and Taffet all notched two hits. Aughinbaugh picked up her 14^th win of the year with three runs allowed, just one earned, on five hits and a walk while striking out five.
 
The Rams and Flyers will kick off Friday's semifinals at 12 p.m. on ESPN+.