SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – Set for the second weekend of tournament action this season, Fordham University Softball heads to the Lone Star State for five games at the Bobcat Tournament, hosted by Texas State.
The Rams open the tournament Friday with a pair of games against Stephen F. Austin at 11:00 a.m. EST and New Mexico at 1:15 p.m. Saturday will see a second game against SFA at 11:00 a.m. EST, before taking on Texas State at 3:30, and the Rams will wrap the trip Sunday against St. Thomas also at 11:00 a.m. EST. All games will have live stats available via StatBroadcast.
Leading the Herd
Pacing the Rams through the opening weekend of the campaign, Mallory McClellan batted .400 with six hits in 15 at-bats at the Charleston Invitational, tallying three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. McClellan recorded a 1.000 OPS while leading a group of nine Rams with multiple hits in South Carolina, including Neleh Nogay with four.
In the circle all five Rams saw action, paced by Holly Beeman who notched her opening win of the year in the first of two complete games for the Fordham junior last weekend, recording an even 2.00 ERA striking out nine batters while giving up just four runs.
Opening Weekend
As a team the Rams posted eight runs on 30 hits on opening weekend, highlighted by a 5-2 victory over Charleston in game two of the campaign. Outlasted in a trio of pitchers duels to close the weekend, falling in a pair of 2-1 games to North Dakota State and Charleston in a second game between the two sides, 4-1.
The season opened with a 12-0 setback against No. 18/16 Virginia Tech in the season opener, against a Hokies' team that didn't allow a run all weekend.
The 2025 Calendar
Facing six opponents that reached an NCAA Regional last season, the 2025 calendar sees Fordham play 51 games against teams from 14 different conferences including the A-10. With 19 tournament games against 10 different opponents on the non-conference side of the schedule, Fordham will also play six additional midweek non-league games throughout March and April, mixed into a nine-team, 26-game Atlantic 10 slate.
Preseason Projections
The Atlantic 10 announced the results of the annual Preseason Coaches' Poll on Feb. 4, with Fordham tabbed to finish fourth out of the league's ten teams.
Defending A-10 champion, Dayton claimed the top spot in the poll receiving 98 overall votes including nine of ten first place bids. Receiving the only other first-place vote was Saint Louis, last year's conference runner-up who edged Loyola Chicago by one overall vote, 85 to 84, followed by the Rams in fourth receiving 66 votes overall.
Making up the final two playoff spots were Saint Joseph's and UMass with 52 and 51 votes respectively, followed by George Washington (46), George Mason (34), Rhode Island (23), and St. Bonaventure (11) to round out the poll.
Opponents Outlook
Ending the opening weekend 2-3, Stephen F. Austin began the year with a 13-3 thrashing of Texas Southern last Friday, before dropping their next three games to close the East Texas A&M Leadoff. The Lumberjacks played Wednesday, claiming a 1-0 win over Sam Houston, before falling to Texas State to open this weekend's tournament earlier Thursday afternoon. Kaylee Paul paced the hitting numbers for SFA with nine hits for four RBI's in 15 at bats, ahead of Vance Ellie with eight hits in 18 at-bats and a pair of RBIs.
With seven games already under their belts in 2025, New Mexico sits at 3-3-1 on the year, opening with an 8-0 run ruled victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Lobos claimed a pair of wins over Houston Christian at the Houston Classic, before drawing with St. John's 2-2 in eight innings last time out to close that tournament. Allie Williams leads the Lobos with 11 hits in 24 at-bats, and tallying five RBI's, while McKenna Guest posted a pair of wins in four appearances in the circle, giving up five runs in 19.0 innings pitched.
At 3-2 on the young season, Texas State fell to Arkansas to open the year, before back-to-back wins over San Diego and Lipscomb. The Bobcats fell to Bradley last Saturday but will enter tomorrow fresh off defeating Stephen F. Austin 3-1 earlier this afternoon.
What's Next?
The Maroon and White head back to the Palmetto State, this time making a trip to Columbia for the Garnet and Black Invitational hosted by South Carolina, Feb. 21-23. Fordham will play four games, with a pair against UNLV and two single games against Boston University and the host Gamecocks.
