BRONX, N.Y. – Closing the regular season in the Ocean State, Fordham University Softball heads to Rhode Island for a Battle of the Rams this weekend.
Fordham takes on Rhody in a doubleheader Saturday at noon, followed by a single game Sunday in the regular season finale, also slated for a 12:00 p.m. start.
The Maroon and White (25-23, 15-8 A-10) have already secured a playoff spot with a sweep of UMass last weekend, but can look to move as high as the No. 2 seed by the end of Sunday, which would earn them a first-round bye in next week's A-10 Tournament.
To clinch a bye the Rams would need to win out against Rhode Island AND have George Mason take at least one of three games at Dayton OR have Fordham win two of three games this weekend AND see George Mason take two of three games against the Flyers.
Boasting the second highest batting average of any team in the A-10, Fordham's is batting .291 as a team, with 378 hits on the year, and 237 RBIs which both lead the A-10.
The Rams are led by Neleh Nogay who is second in the conference batting .396 on the year, and sits third of all players in the nation in stolen bases this season, setting a new single-season program and conference record, now with 41. Nogay needs just seven more stolen bases to tie the all-time Fordham stolen base record, set by Brianna Pinto with 85. Nogay leads the Rams with 69 hits on the year, tied for eighth most in a single season at Fordham as well, and also paces the team with 47 runs scored.
The Rams have four players hitting over .300 and six with at least 35 hits apiece, each batting .270 or better on the year, including Sydney Wells who paces the Rams in RBIs with 41, and OPS with an .803 slugging and .542 on base percentage, both top-three in the A-10.
Bashing a team high 15 home-runs on the year, Wells has hit eight in her last 10 games, and is followed closely in RBIs by Eva Koratsis and Nicki Sudall with 35 and 28 respectively. As a team the Rams have collected 57 stolen bases, 96th best in the country and fifth best in the A-10.
In the circle, Holly Beeman leads the Maroon and White with an 12-6 record while posting a 2.52 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 119.2 innings pitched, ranked third in the conference in both wins and ERA.
Beeman has tossed a complete game in 15 of 19 outings this season, 30th 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 72.1 innings pitched thus far, striking out 36 batters. Elizabeth Gaisior tallied the first two wins of her collegiate career, coming on in relief for the win in game two against UMass before starting and tossing 3.2 innings for the victory in game three.
Behind the pitchers, Fordham is fourth in the A-10, ranked 88th nationally with a .967 fielding percentage as a team, and have turned 12 double plays on the year.
At 13-33 on the year, 6-16 in A-10 play, Rhode Island dropped a doubleheader to Stonehill on Thursday, but took games in their last two A-10 series against UMass and George Washington. Sydney Orndorff leads Rhody with a .323 average, while Kate Knarr leads the Rams with 43 hits and 25 RBIs.
After locking up their seed this weekend, the Rams head to Washington D.C. for the 2025 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, which begins with first round action in the double-elimination tournament Wednesday, with the top two seeds receiving a bye to Thursday's quarterfinal round.
