HARRISONBURG, VA. – Getting started slightly behind schedule, both offenses came ready to play Saturday night, with 21 runs scored in just the opening frame, as Fordham University Softball was outlasted 15-11 to James Madison.
Originally set for a 4:00 pm. start on Saturday afternoon, the Rams and Dukes opened play just after 4:50 p.m. as the two sides played what Fordham Alumnus Michael Kay would call "a manageable" two hour, 16-minute game, despite the first inning lasting just shy of an hour just by itself.
With a combined 26 runs scored on the day, Saturday marks the highest run total in a game since a 16-12 slugfest at the hands of Hawaii in Las Vegas on Feb. 15, 2019.
The Rams were slated to play a second game at 6:30 p.m. tonight against Radford, but will now play that game as the backend of a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon to close the Lakeside Book Company Tournament.
By the time the first out was recorded in game one, the Maroon and White saw 14 players come to the dish, rattling off nine runs on eight hits before James Madison had a turn at bat. The Dukes would however pull off some heroics of their own, scoring 12 in the bottom of the frame, in a first inning that lasted 55 minutes six outs were recorded.
James Madison scored a pair of runs in the third, which the Rams answered with one each in the fourth and fifth, before the home side set the final tally with a single run in the bottom of the sixth.
Six different Rams tallied an RBI in the first as the Rams batted around in the opening frame, with Neleh Nogay recording three hits and three runs scored with a pair of RBIs and a stolen base, to lead a group of four Rams with two or more RBI's apiece. One of those would be Sydney Wells, who opened the scoring with a three-run blast in the first, to lead the team with a trio of runs batted in, on two hits.
Mallory McClellan and Eva Koratsis also tallied a pair of hits each, and both came around to score once, with Koratsis doing so twice. With a pair of RBI's Morgan Volgraf also scored once on the day, as did Nicki Sudall, as each player in the order either reached base or drove in a run on the day.
How it Happened
Fordham led off the day with its first eight batters reaching safely, beginning with a pair of Nogay and Volgraf singles, to put a pair of runners on for a Wells homer to dead center to make it 3-0 early on. Two more singles and a walk saw the Rams reload the bases, forcing a pitching change, ahead of a Victoria Klimaszewski walk to force in a run.
A McClellan single and RBI groundout by Ava Vandernoth flipped the lineup back to the top with the Rams leading by six. A Nogay triple to right center drove in a pair, before the second out was recorded, despite Volgraf driving in Nogay from third on the play to cap a 9-0 rally in the first.
Matching the Rams with a pair of singles and three run blast to start the bottom of the frame, James Madison rattled off 12 runs on seven hits before the first inning came to an end, nearly 55 minutes after it had begun.
The Dukes tacked on two more with a home run in the third, before the Rams struck again with a Gianna Spinelli single in the fourth scoring Koratsis, and Volgraf added her second RBI an inning later, with another JMU solo home run in the sixth setting the final score.
What's Next?
After game two against Radford was moved to tomorrow afternoon, the Rams will now play a doubleheader, moving up one hour to a 10:00 a.m. start against Binghamton, before playing their second game against Radford at 12:30 p.m.
