BRONX, N.Y. – Taking on the top team in the Atlantic 10 in a doubleheader Wednesday, Fordham University Softball swept a pair of games over Saint Joseph's at Bahoshy Field.
Rallying in the first and final turns at the dish in game one the Rams would score four runs early on before tallying three more in the bottom of the sixth. In all Fordham would scatter 13 hits in the opener, while forcing the Hawks, ranked second in the A-10 in fielding percentage, into three errors in the process.
Game two would see the visitors break out to an early lead, with the Rams using a pair of homers to tie the game at four, before tallying a pair in the bottom of the seventh to take a 6-5 win in walk-off fashion.
Finishing the day with 11 runs scored on 24 hits across the two games, the Rams would bash a pair of home runs, both in game two. With the same batting order for both games, all nine starters would tally at least one hit on the afternoon, led by a staggering 7-of-8 day at the plate for Neleh Nogay, who would also come around to score four times in Wednesday's doubleheader.
Bella Ayala and Bailey Enoch would each tally three hits in total, while Sydney Wells recorded five of 11 Fordham RBIs on the day. In the circle, Devon Miller would pick up her 10th victory of the season in game one striking out six Hawks in the process, while Holly Beeman secured the game two victory throwing a full seven innings while giving up just two earned runs.
The Rams would rally for four runs in the opening frame of game one, scattering five hits including back-to-back singles to put a pair of runners on. An Eva Koratsis double would plate the first run of the day, followed by an RBI groundout to give the home side a 2-0 lead. Fordham would score their third run of the inning on a Bella Ayala single to left field, before a throwing error at first saw Ayala come around to score and give her side a 4-0 lead, as all nine batters came up to bat in the first.
St. Joe's would tack on their first run on a sac fly to left in the third, and would score two more in the fifth to cut their deficit to one. Battling back in the bottom of the sixth, the Rams would tack on three insurance runs to reestablish a four run lead.
A double steal try with runners on the corners would see Gianna Sarlo steal home to make it 5-3, before a sac fly to center put Fordham back up by three. Michaela Carter would double in the very next at bat to score the third run of the inning for the Rams, ahead of Miller recording the final outs in the seventh to see out a 7-3 victory in game one.
Getting to work quickly in the latter game of the day, St. Joe's would put up a four spot in the first to take the lead. Fordham would counter with three runs on one swing of the bat in the third, as Sydney Wells bashed a three-run home run, her 11th of the season to cut the deficit to one.
Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Bella Ayala would go yard with her first dinger of 2024, a solo shot over the high fence in left to tie the game at four. The Hawks would take back the lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single, forcing the Rams to rally late in the day.
After a single and stolen base by Nogay, Wells would drive a double to the gap to tie things up at five and put herself in scoring position at second, representing the winning run. Mallory McClellan would come on to pinch run, advancing to third on an infield single, before scoring from third on a sac fly to left to help the Rams become the first A-10 team to sweep the Hawks this season.
Fordham is back in action this weekend with a trip to Olean, N.Y. for a three-game series at St. Bonaventure on Saturday and Sunday.
