Softball Welcomes Rhode Island to Bahoshy Field During Pride Weekend

Watch: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
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Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham softball team (9-13, 1-4) returns to action this weekend against Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island (5-16, 1-4) with a three-game series at Bahoshy Field. All three contests will be streamed on ESPN+ via the links above.
 
LBGTQ+ Pride
This weekend, we are honoring and celebrating those in the LBGTQ+ community! Fans are encouraged to wear their most colorful outfits and sport the rainbow flag. We will be giving away rainbow wristbands prior to game one on Saturday, as well.
 
Last Time Out
Fordham was swept at George Washington last weekend but kept the games close, losing by a combined 5 runs. Over the last five games, which include a midweek sweep of Stony Brook last Wednesday, Rachel Hubertus and Julia Martine led the offense with a combined nine hits, four home runs, 11 RBIs, six runs, and eight walks, holding very similar stat lines. Brianna Pinto led the squad with four runs and stole two more bases, tying her with Krystle Henry ('07) for the program record of 73. Julia Petrovich also came off the bench to go 2-for-3 in her pinch-hitting appearances.
 
Series History vs. Rhode Island
Fordham leads the all-time series with Rhody, 36-17, since entering the Atlantic 10 for the 1996 season. The (Kingston) Rams dominated the early portion of the rivalry but it's been all Fordham since, especially since 2004 with the (Bronx) Rams winning all but three contests. The two schools haven't met since the 2019 season in a doubleheader split at Bahoshy Field. That was Senior Day for five Rams and helped Fordham clinch a first-round bye at the A-10 Championship. Becca Rogers held the hosts to just five hits in a shutout in game one, but Fordham scored eight in game two to split the day.
 
Milestone Watch
With her seventh-inning steal in game one last weekend, Brianna Pinto matched Krystle Henry's long-standing stolen base record of 73 career thefts. Pinto is now a perfect 13-of-13 on the basepaths this year and has been thrown out just ONCE in her career, way back in April of her freshman year. The Franklin Square, N.Y. native also has a chance to finish in the top-10 for career batting average after setting the single-season record last Spring with a .431 average across 46 contests, currently at .247 this year.
 
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 with seven home runs already this year is now into the top-10 for career bombs, tied for eighth all-time alongside Allison Twarowski ('08) and Sydney Canessa ('17), with 29. Hubertus leads the Atlantic 10 this year in home runs so far. She is also 21 RBIs away from the all-time top-10 and is currently sixth with a career .591 slugging percentage.
 
Junior Devon Miller is up to joint-eighth all-time with seven career shutouts and just entered the top-10 for career strikeouts, now 10^th with 256. She is also just three wins from that top-10, as well.   
 
Makenzie McGrath Named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week
The senior earned her first weekly league accolade on February 15 after picking up both of the team's wins opening weekend, one in her fifth career complete game and one in relief. Read all about her stellar performances here.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 hosts Iona next Wednesday, March 30, for a one-off contest at 3 p.m. before traveling up to UMass for three games next weekend.