SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – Rallying back with five unanswered runs in the final 2.5 innings of action early Saturday Fordham University Softball defeated Stephen F. Austin 5-4, before falling to Texas State, 8-0 in six innings.
Scattering five runs on eight hits in the opening game Saturday morning, Fordham and SFA entered the fifth inning still scoreless before the two sides combined for nine runs in the final three frames. After the Lumberjacks claimed a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth, Fordham tallied a single run in the bottom of the inning, before two more in the sixth and seventh to walk it off.
Victoria Klimaszewski tallied her first collegiate win out of the bullpen, tossing the final 1.2 innings without allowing a hit.
Erin Hoppe drove in the winning run on a single to center field after Sydney Wells tied the game with a solo home run to leadoff the final inning of play. Hoppe and Nicki Sudall tallied a pair of hits in game one, along with four other Rams tallying one hit apiece, including Wells and Neleh Nogay who tallied two RBI's each. Nogay and Mallory mClellan each tallied a base hit in the latter game against Texas State.
Game One (7 inn. walkoff): Fordham - 5R, 8H, 2E, Stephen F. Austin - 4R, 9H, 0E
A pitchers' duel through the first four frames Saturday morning, neither side allowed a run until a big fifth inning for both sides cracked the game open late. Rattling off five hits in the top of the fifth, Stephen F. Austin pulled out to a 4-0 lead, with the Rams answering in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases and forcing a run home on a hit by pitch.
Coming on in relief for the second straight game, Klimaszewski escaped the sixth inning without allowing a run, before the Rams' offense tallied two more runs off the bat of Nogay, to bring the Maroon and White back within one.
Sydney Wells led off the bottom of the inning in style, bashing the first Fordham home run of the campaign to left field to tie the game. A hit by pitch and basehit would put the winning run in scoring position with nobody out, before Erin Hoppe drove in pinch runner Morgan Volgraf on a single up the middle to walk it off, 5-4.
Game Two: Texas State - 8R, 7H, 1E, Fordham - 0R, 2H, 3E
Drilling a pair of home runs in the first and second inning, Texas State pulled out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, later rallying four five runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim the victory Saturday afternoon via run rule.
On Deck
The Maroon and White close the Bobcat Tournament tomorrow, taking on St. Thomas at 11:00 a.m. EST.
