BRONX, N.Y. – Though the final scoreline may not reflect it, the Rams battled much of the day with Loyola Chicago, setting their foot down with rallies in three consecutive innings as Fordham University Softball downed the Ramblers 12-5 Sunday afternoon.
The Rams completed a series sweep over Loyola following a pair of wins Saturday, to open Atlantic 10 play 3-0, and improve to 11-13 on the year, outscoring the Ramblers 24-9 over the three games this weekend.
Trading a pair of runs in the opening frame, the second and seventh innings would be the only two without a run scored in a back-and-forth contest throughout. Loyola Chicago took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, but Fordham capitalized for three runs in the fourth to take their first lead of the day.
Loyola responded in the top half of the fifth with three runs of their own, but Fordham stayed hot, as four more Rams came around to score to put the Maroon and White back ahead 8-5 through five innings, before they rattled off four more in the sixth to but the game out of reach heading to the seventh.
The Rams put 11 hits on the board along with drawing six walks on the day, with eight different Rams recording a hit and five posting an RBI. Seven different players came around to score on the day, including four players scoring multiple times, led by Erin Hoppe with three runs scored.
Bashing her first career home run, Mallory McClellan led the offense with near identical statlines alongside Kate McGuire and Allie Clark, who each went 2-for-3 with two hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored, with McClellan and Clark also drawing a walk.
Olivia Simcoe picked up the win in the circle, tossing a shutout 3.0 innings in relief, striking out five of the 12 batters she faced, while allowing just two hits.
Using a bit of small ball to get the scoring started, Loyola Chicago added a run in the first, but a leadoff triple by Neleh Nogay set the Rams up to tie the game early in the bottom of the inning. A pair of walks loaded the bases with nobody out, before Nogay came home to level the game at one.
A quiet second was followed by a single run in the third by Loyola to take back the lead, before a single by Hoppe in the fourth put one on for a two-run home run to right by McClellan to put Fordham ahead 3-2. The Rams tacked on one more before the end of the frame, as Clark doubled before coming home on a Mikayla Swan single to double up the lead.
Answering that effort in their next turn at bat, Loyola Chicago took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth, but saw that erased with a McGuire RBI single in the bottom half tying the game, before three runs came home on a bases clearing error in the outfield to take an 8-5 lead, tallying four runs on just one hit in the frame.
Setting a statement in the sixth, Fordham scored a run on a wild pitch with a runner on third, ahead of an RBI double from McGuire, and two-run double from Clark to make it 12-5 Rams before Olivia Simcoe closed things out in the seventh as the Rams claim their fourth straight win heading into the final game of the homestand Wednesday.
The Rams will next host Clemson in a single game from Bahoshy Field at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, with the game streaming live on ESPN+.
