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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (2-3) travels down to Conway, S.C. for Coastal Carolina's (3-2) Battle at the Beach this weekend. The Rams will play both the hosts and South Carolina (3-2) twice with identical schedules on Friday and Saturday – at 12:30 against the Gamecocks and 5:30 against the Chanticleers. On Sunday, Fordham will wrap up play against Marshall (3-1) at 11 a.m.
 
None of this weekend's will be streamed, but all games can be followed along via Live Stats at the link above.
 
Last Time Out
The Rams went 2-3 at last weekend's Kick-Off Classic at Grand Canyon University. Fordham dropped its first two contests, first against Weber State and later on the hosts, but rebounded by defeating Weber State, 4-1, behind Makenzie McGrath's fifth career complete game in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. The Rams fell to Kansas but closed the weekend in style on Sunday, 3-2, against Northern Colorado behind Michaela Carter's career effort, blasting her first two career home runs, the second of which broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning.
 
Makenzie McGrath Named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week
The senior earned her first weekly league accolade on Tuesday after picking up both of her team's wins last weekend, one in her fifth career complete game and one in relief. Read all about her stellar performances here.
 
2022 Season Preview
Head coach Melissa Inouye, entering her fourth season at the helm of the program, and the team's four captains – fifth-years Kelly Bright, Rachel Hubertus, and Brianna Pinto, and senior Makenzie McGrath recapped the team's preseason preparations and spoke on their team goals for the year, plus more, in this video.
 
A-10 Preseason Poll
The Rams were predicted to finish second in the annual Atlantic 10 preseason coaches poll. Fordham garnered 71 points and three first-place votes, finishing just three points shy of last year's champions, George Washington, who received four first-place votes, and ahead of Saint Joseph's, who earned the final two first-place votes and 55 total points. Read about it here.
 
Series Histories
South Carolina – The all-time series is tied 1-1. Fordham defeated the Gamecocks, 4-3, in eight innings in 2006 in a true road contest, but fell, 5-4, at the Tallahassee NCAA Regional in 2014.
 
Coastal Carolina – The two schools have met just once before – a 4-0 Chanticleer win on neutral ground in eight innings in 2006 at the USF/Adidas Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.
 
Marshall – The Herd have won both prior meetings, both on neutral ground – 3-1 in 2004 and a thrilling 10-9 game in 2007.
 
2021 Season Review
The Rams saw a stretch of seven consecutive Atlantic 10 championships snapped last Spring. Fordham earned the #2 seed after finishing the conference season with a 17-3 record, posting a 37-10 overall record by year's end. Devon Miller became the eighth Ram to earn A-10 Rookie of the Year honors, also garnering First Team All-Conference accolades, with Sarah Taffet and Brianna Pinto being named to the Second Team and Bella Ayala and Bailey Enoch landing on the All-Rookie team. The quartet of Miller, Pinto, Madie Aughinbaugh, and Rachel Hubertus all were also selected to the NFCA All-Region Third Team, as well.
 
In the classroom, a program-record 13 Rams also earned Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete honors, with Aughinbaugh also garnering A-10 All-Academic and both Hubertus and Pinto earning CoSIDA Academic All-District.
 
Fordham saw Aughinbaugh, one of the program's top pitchers and two-way players, graduate among five total, but return every other starter from a year ago, with five freshman joining the program. Coach Inouye, who received a contract extension, also added former Holy Cross head coach Jennifer Lapicki as her associate head coach.
 
Milestone Watch
Brianna Pinto, with the third-most steals in a single season last year, 28, is a mere 10 thefts away from becoming Fordham's all-time steals leader, a likely scenario after stealing four already last weekend. She is currently fourth with 64 career steals across 146 games and has been thrown out just once in her career, all the way back in April of her freshman campaign. The Franklin Square, N.Y. native is also on pace for a top-10 career batting average, as well, currently at .321, which would rank ninth, after setting the single-season record last Spring with a .431 average across 46 contests.  
 
Redshirt senior Rachel Hubertus enjoyed a tremendous comeback season last year, hitting 13 home runs with 54 RBIs, ranked T-10^th and 5^th, respectively in a single year, and is now just five four-baggers and 38 RBIs away from the all-time top-10s. She is already sixth with a current .571 slugging percentage and, like Pinto, is on pace to join the all-time top-10 for batting average, as well, currently at .314.
 
Junior Devon Miller is already tied for 10^th all-time with six career shutouts but she is also on the cusp of the top-10 lists for career wins (currently at 17, six behind) and strikeouts (currently 218, 27 behind). 
 
D1Softball.com's Top 150
Junior pitcher and reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Devon Miller was named by D1Softball.com as its 149^th-best player in the country heading into the season. You can read about it here, though it is a subscription-based website.
 
Up Next
Fordham has next week off before wrapping up preseason tournament play with the Boerner Invitational, hosted by UT-Arlington on March 4-6. The Rams will play Northwestern State Friday morning, then the hosts that evening, and UTSA on Saturday, before two as-yet opponents depending on results.