BRONX, N.Y. – Rattling off 12 runs across a pair of victories to open Atlantic 10 Conference play, Fordham University Softball swept a doubleheader over Loyola Chicago, 5-2, and 7-4, Saturday afternoon.
Rallying for four runs in the second inning of game one, the Rams took a 4-0 lead, which they held for much of the way, ahead of a pair of runs by Loyola Chicago in the fifth and sixth to cut into the deficit. The Rams added a run back in the bottom of the frame, as Holly Beeman tossed her seventh complete game of the season to earn the win, as Fordham took the opener 5-2.
After the Ramblers notched a single run in their first turn at-bat in game two, Fordham answered with a first pitch no doubt grand slam by Nicki Sudall over the scoreboard in left center to put Fordham in front 4-1.
The Rams never looked back, as they tallied three more in the fourth on a two-run double by Sydney Wells and RBI single from Sudall. Loyola Chicago added three runs back in the fifth, but Emilee Watkins nabbed her second victory of the week to take the series win in game two, 7-4, ahead of the final game tomorrow afternoon.
Game two Saturday also saw Neleh Nogay tally four stolen bases, tying a program record as just the second player to ever do so in a single game, alongside Brianna Pinto '23 who did so back on April 8, 2021 at Stony Brook. Nogay finished the afternoon, 5-for-8 with four runs scored to go with her stolen bases, adding three RBIs on a pair of hits in game one to lead the Rams Saturday.
Game 1: Fordham 7, Loyola Chicago 4
Nogay tallied three hits in four at-bats, scoring a run while driving in three, with Mikayla Swan tallying the remaining RBI. Fordham scattered nine hits from six different players in the A-10 opener, and drew four walks in game one.
Beeman opened the day in fine fashion, getting through the opening frame in just seven pitches, setting down the Ramblers in order. The Rams capitalized in the second inning, using a single and a pair of walks to load the bases with two away, ahead of two runs each came around to score on a Nogay double, and a Mikayla Swan single to make it 4-0.
Recording just three hits in the first five innings, Loyola Chicago added a run back in the top of the fifth, and a solo home run in the sixth saw the visitors cut their deficit in half late. A leadoff double by Mallory McClellan in the bottom of the inning saw her come home two batters later on a Nogay triple to the gap in left field, setting the final line, before Beeman shut down the Ramblers in the seventh.
Game 2: Fordham 7, Loyola Chicago 4
Driving in five of the Rams seven runs in game two, Sudall hit 3-for-4 with her third home run of the campaign, with Wells driving in the other two runs.
Loyola-Chicago struck first in game one, scoring a run in the top of the first, but that wouldn't hold for long, as Fordham loaded the bases in their first turn to bat, ahead of a towering Nicki Sudall grand slam to put the home side on the board and in the lead, 4-1.
Feeding off that momentum, Watkins set down nine of the next ten batters she faced, and over that span, saw her offense rally for three more runs in the fourth. Flipping the top of the order with one away, Nogay and Swan reached base before coming around to score on a Wells double the next at-bat, and Koratsis would drive in Annie Sullivan as a pinch runner home from second to make it a six-run Fordham lead.
The Ramblers rattled off three runs of their own in the top of the fifth, but Watkins again settled in, getting out of the rally with three consecutive outs, and gave up just one hit in the final two innings, erased by a 5-4-3 double-play around the horn to end the game and seal a 2-0 start to league play.
What's Next
The Maroon and White will look for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon, taking on Loyola Chicago in a single game at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
