Athens, Ga. – Opening the 2026 campaign with five games in SEC Country, Fordham University softball heads to Georgia this Friday-Sunday for the Black and Red Classic hosted by the University of Georgia.
The Rams will play a pair of games on Opening Day Friday, taking on Belmont and 1:00 p.m. and the No. 15 Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. Fordham will square off with Georgia once again Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ahead of the first of two meetings with Missouri State at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Both games against No. 15 Georgia will air on SEC Network+ available through the ESPN App and ESPN+.
Boasting the top batting average in the Atlantic 10 as a team last season, the Rams had six players finish this season hitting .300 or better. Fordham made it to the 2025 Atlantic 10 Championship series as the No. 3 seed, falling in a pair of walk-offs to No. 2 Saint Louis. The Rams saw seven players take home 10 All-Conference awards at season's end.
Winning 30 games for the third time under now ninth year Head Coach Melissa Inouye in 2025, the Rams return 14 of 19 players from last year's roster, while welcoming six rookies to the squad with a trio of outfielders in Aubrey Zvovushe-Ramos, Ruby Ciummo, Morgan Merzon, alongside infielder Sadira Forcucci, catcher Chloe Trimandilis, and pitcher Sydney May.
Leading the returners, Neleh Nogay finished 15th amongst all players in the nation with 77 hits last season, and set both a new Fordham and Atlantic 10 single season record with 46 stolen bases this season on 50 attempts, 10 more than the previous mark by a Rams and eight more than any player in conference history.
That effort placed Nogay sixth best of any player in the nation, and now leaves her just two shy of tying the all-time Fordham career mark entering her senior campaign in 2026.
Tied for the best batting average in the A-10, Nogay hit .397 in 2025 while scattering 77 hits, the second most of any Ram in a single season, and her 52 runs scored were eighth most in a season as well. Through three seasons, Nogay currently holds the highest batting average of any player in program history, a career .367 hitter.
In the circle, Holly Beeman looks to lead the five-player pitching core, after tossing 19 complete games across 23 starts, ninth most by any Ram in a single season. Posting a career-high 14 wins across nearly 150 innings pitched, Beeman finished with a 2.28 ERA striking out a career-best 86 batters on the year.
Following opening weekend in The Peach State, Fordham heads across the country to California next weekend, playing five games at San Diego State Feb. 13-15.
