BRONX, N.Y. – Opening a stretch that will see the Rams play eight of their next nine games on the road, Fordham University Softball heads to Philadelphia for a doubleheader with Saint Joseph's at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN+.
Stack 'Em Up
Fordham (20-16, 10-2 A-10) are riding a nine game win streak that included sweeping their last two A-10 series over St. Bonaventure and George Mason alongside non-league wins over St. John's and Stony Brook, and started back on Mar. 22 in the final game at Saint Louis. The Rams swept a seven-game homestand in the process that concluded with a walk-off 4-3 win in eight innings Saturday afternoon, to improve to 11-1 at home this season.
Sitting atop the conference standings entering this week, Fordham's offense ranks amongst the A-10 leaders, leading in hits (273), while ranked second in batting average (.291), home runs (21), and on-base percentage (.383), while sitting third in doubles (40), slugging percentage (.412), and runs scored (171). The Rams' 42 stolen bases as a team place them third best in the A-10, 79th best of all Division I teams.
On the defensive end the Rams have turned 11 double-plays this year, third most of any team in the league, and sit 40th in the nation with a .972 fielding percentage as a team. The Fordham pitching staff sits second in the A-10 in WHP (1.52), win-loss percentage (.556) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.75).
Leading the Lineup
On the season, Nogay leads the Rams and all players in the A-10, ranked 36th in the country with 52 hits and her 33 stolen bases place her fourth best of any player in the nation. Nogay is batting .400 on the year, fourth best in the A-10, driving in 15 RBIs and scoring 35 runs.
Sydney Wells leads the Rams with 29 RBIs and 31 walks, while sitting third in the A-10 in on-base percentage (.515), and fourth in the A-10 in slugging percentage (.556) and home runs (7). Nicki Sudall is second in RBIs as well, driving in 24 this season, while scoring 14 runs and scattering 32 hits, one of four Rams with 30 or more base-knocks.
Sudall also sits second on the team after she cranked her sixth home run of the season last weekend, while Eva Koratsis is hitting .308 with 33 hits, driving 22 RBIs with 15 runs scored, third on the team in runs batted in.
Center Circle
Holly Beeman holds an 10-3 record after picking up a pair of wins last week, and has tallied the best ERA in the A-10 at 2.01, ranked 57th in the nation, while tossing the third most innings of any pitcher in the conference with 90.1 on the year. She also sits 41st in the nation in shutouts, and 48th nationally with just 1.47 walks allowed per seven innings, third best in the A-10.
Tossing 12 complete games in 14 appearances, Beeman sits 22nd in the nation in complete games, and has claimed a pair of A-10 Pitcher of the Week awards thus far in the second and third week of the year, with her 10 victories good enough for second best in the A-10 and 84th best in the country.
Emilee Watkins has tallied six wins on the season, posting 54.2 innings pitched, striking out 22 batters over that span, while Olivia Simcoe nabbed wins in the last two midweek outings, tossing a full seven innings in each while allowing just five runs and striking out eight batters over that span.
Swerve, Bend That Corner, Woah-oh
Locking down the leadoff spot over the past two seasons, Nogay is always a threat to steal, already surpassing her career best mark from a season ago, when she stole 22 bases in 24 tries, now sitting with 33 this season on 37 attempts.
Nogay's 33 stolen bases now places second all-time for stolen bases in a single season at Fordham, just three away from tying the program record, set by Jessica Hughes '17 with 36 in 2016. In her third season in Maroon and White, Nogay has stolen seven 70 steals in her career, third all-time in Fordham history, needing just three more to tie for second on the all-time steals list, set by Krystle Henry '07 with 73.
In a doubleheader against Loyola-Chicago on Mar. 15, Nogay stole five bases in six attempts, tying a program record with four steals in four tries in game two Saturday against Loyola Chicago. Brianna Pinto '22 was the only player to do so, just a handful of years ago, stealing four bases at Stony Brook on Apr. 8, 2021. Pinto also holds the all-time stolen base record at Fordham with 85.
Sweeping the Weekend
A pitchers' duel throughout game one Friday against George Mason, the two sides were level at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, before a leadoff home run by Sudall lifted the Rams to a game one victory, with Beeman nabbing her ninth victory of the season in the circle.
Game two saw the Patriots take a 1-0 lead in the first, before the Maroon and White drove in four in the bottom of the frame, and one more in the second to pull ahead 5-1. Trading a run apiece in the third and sixth innings, Watkins shut down George Mason in the seventh to seal a 7-4 win.
Though the final run of the afternoon crossed the plate just over four hours after the game got underway, Fordham rallied late after a rain delay Saturday to defeat George Mason 4-3 in walkoff fashion in eight innings.
Scoring a pair of runs in the first Mason held the lead through a nearly two-hour rain delay, before the Rams tied the game in their first turn back to bat. The Patriots took a 3-2 lead in the sixth, but Fordham tied it in the seventh before knocking a pair of doubles in the eight to nab the win.
Series History
At 45-38 in the series with Saint Joseph's, Fordham holds a slight edge heading into the 84th and 85th all-time meetings between the two. The Hawks defeated the Rams in the A-10 tournament in their last meeting, after Fordham swept the regular season series in 2024 taking both games of a doubleheader on Apr. 17.
Scouting Saint Joseph's
At 19-16 on the year, the Hawks sit 8-4 in league play, second in the A-10 and have won three of their last four, including two of three over Rhode Island last weekend. Hailey Malito leads Saint Joseph's hitting .337 with a .990 OPS, with a team high 23 RBIs on the year. Sarah Cancila had tallied the most hits with 33 and runs scored with 27, hitting .324 with a .935 OPS.
What's Next?
Continuing a stretch of eight of nine games on the road, the Rams head to Washington D.C. for a three-game set with George Washington Saturday and Sunday.
