By MATT ROSENFELD

SPORTS EDITOR

The Fordham softball team had a very busy weekend. Playing four games in three days, the Rams went 3-1, splitting two games at UMass on Friday and Saturday, then sweeping a doubleheader at home against Rhode Island.

The team left on Thursday to travel up to Amherst, Mass. to take on the Minutewomen. UMass is the defending Atlantic 10 champion, and although its record was only a paltry 6-16 heading into the series, UMass is always a force to be reckoned with in A-10 softball.

Friday’s game set the theme for the Rams’ weekend: offense. Fordham opened the game by loading the bases with only one out, which led to sophomore Kayla Lombardo lining a ball that the third baseman could not handle, giving Fordham an early 1-0 lead. That would be all the Rams would muster as sophomore Michele Daubman lined into a double play to end the threat.

UMass would answer right away. An inning that would include an illegal pitch and an error from Fordham led to three runs that gave the Minutewomen a 3-1 lead.

They would get three more runs on five hits in the second to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Fordham needed its offense to make up ground.

“We had overall confidence in coming back,” head coach Bridget Orchard said. “We were positive we could chip away. We got to give UMass credit, they turned a few double plays and nothing was really going our way.”

Fordham would get a run back in the fourth when Daubman hit her fourth home run of the year to cut the lead to 6-2. Another Ram run in the fifth got them to within three, but UMass would score three in their half of the fifth inning, highlighted by a single that drove in two from freshman Taylor Carbone. Fordham could not overcome the 9-3 lead, losing the first game of the weekend 9-5.

The Saturday affair between the two teams was not one for lovers of pitching and defense. In a game that saw 28 total runs scored, Fordham defeated UMass 17-11.

The Rams had five players with multiple hits, four players with multiple RBI games and hit four home runs on the day. Lombardo and junior Elise Fortier stood out amongst the numerous offensive contributors. Lombardo went 2-4 with five RBI and a home run, a three run shot to left field and her fourth of the year. Fortier was 2-3, both of her hits being solo home runs, one in the first and the other in the fifth inning.

“All year long our entire lineup one through nine has been able to hit the ball well,” Orchard said. “[The team] has a lot of confidence, in themselves and each other. Also, knowing that we need to put up runs without having a dominant pitcher like last year has made us work hard on our hitting.”

That hitting carried into Sunday’s doubleheader when fellow A-10 member Rhode Island visited Bahoshy Field.

In the first contest, Fordham trailed 1-0 until the third when it would score three runs to grab the lead. A Daubman RBI single followed by a Lombardo home run quickly put the Rams in control of the game.

The visiting side would not go away quickly, though. Rhode Island brought the lead down to one in the fourth when junior Ashley Olson homered to left-center field. A sacrifice fly from Daubman would give the Rams a 4-2 lead.

Fordham would put the game away in the sixth inning, when it was able to double its lead to 6-2. An RBI triple from sophomore Sammi Smith gave the Rams the insurance they needed, but also gave senior Jamie LaBovick, who was 0-3 up to that point, one more chance to extend her hitting streak, which sat at 20 games. LaBovick delivered, knocking an RBI single to center to extend the streak. The game would end by that score, giving the Rams a second straight A-10 victory.

The last game of Fordham’s busy weekend would also prove to be its easiest. The Rams won by a score of 12-2 in five innings.

The biggest moment of the game was when LaBovick singled to right to start off the game. The hit extended her hitting streak to 22 games, which marks the longest hit streak for any man or woman in Fordham history.

“It’s pretty cool,” LaBovick said of her possession of the record. “I owe my team, because in the first game when I was [hitless] Sam [Smith] and Paige [Ortiz] got hits that got me another at bat, so I owe it to them too.”

The game blew wide open in the second inning when Fordham, already with a 1-0 lead, scored five runs to grab a six-run advantage. With the bases loaded, Lombardo hit a bases-clearing double, which accounted for her three RBI in the game. Fortier also chipped in with an RBI single in the inning.

A home run from senior Chelsea Palumbo upped the lead to 7-0 before Rhode Island could score their first run in the fourth, a solo home run to make it 7-1.

Leading 9-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, Fordham needed one run to end the game via the eight-run rule. They got three when Fortier hit her team-leading 14th home run of the season, a walk-off to give Fordham the win.

Fordham currently sits at 23-12 overall and fifth in the A-10 at 7-3.

“I think everybody in their mindset right now is confident,” Orchard said. “They’re seeing the ball well. The cold weather recently has moved us inside a lot and given us a lot of opportunities to work on hitting.”

The Rams will travel to Saint Louis on Friday, April 12 to take on the Billikens in another A-10 matchup.