BRONX, N.Y. – Hosting their final home series in the penultimate weekend of the regular season, Fordham University Softball takes on UMass in a three-game set Friday and Sunday.
The Rams and Minutewomen will play the opening game of the series Friday night at 6:00 p.m. and will avoid rain in The Bronx Saturday, moving the doubleheader to Sunday afternoon beginning at 12:00 p.m. with the senior day ceremony set to be held between the two games. All games will stream live on ESPN+.
Fordham (22-23, 12-8 A-10) took the final game of a three-game set last weekend This weekend wraps a stretch that sees the Rams play eight of nine games on the road, with the game against the Sharks in the midweek being the only one held at Bahoshy Field over that span.
Boasting the highest batting average of any team in the A-10, Fordham's offense leads the conference batting .283 with 337 hits on the year, including 29 home runs, to also lead the league.
The Rams are led by Neleh Nogay who is batting .374 on the year, and sits third of all players in the nation in stolen bases this season, setting a new single season program record now with 39. Nogay needs just ten more stolen bases to set the all-time Fordham stolen base record, set by Brianna Pinto with 86.
The Rams have three players hitting over .300 and six with at least 30 hits apiece, each batting .270 or better on the year, including Sydney Wells who paces the Rams in RBIs with 41, walks with 40, and OPS with a .788 slugging and .530 on base percentage, both top-three in the A-10.
Bashing a team high 14 home-runs on the year, Wells has hit seven in her last seven games, and is followed closely in RBIs by Eva Koratsis and Nicki Sudall with 29 and 26 respectively.
In the circle, Holly Beeman leads the Maroon and White with an 11-6 record while posting a 2.50 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 109.0 innings pitched, ranked third in the conference in both wins and ERA.
Beeman has tossed a complete game in 14 of 18 outings this season, 26th amongst all Division I players in complete games, while Emilee Watkins has picked up seven wins in the circle, tossing eight complete games herself, totalling 70.1 innings pitched thus far, striking out 36 batters.
Behind the pitchers, Fordham is fourth in the A-10, ranked 79th nationally with a .967 fielding percentage as a team, and have turned 12 double plays on the year.
UMass enters the weekend in what will be the final conference series between the two sides, before moving the MAC next season. At 11-29 on the year the Minutewomen are 4-12 in league play, looking to snap a five game losing streak.
Hitting the road for the final weekend of the regular season, Fordham heads up I-95 to Rhode Island for a Battle of the Rams, May 3-4 at URI.
