Fordham Softball Competes in Charleston

By The Fordham Ram on February 19, 2014 • ( 0 )

By ANTHONY PUCIK
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Following the games in Charleston, the Rams’ record stands at 5-3 . The team’s next tournament is in California. (Ram Archives)

After opening their season 2-1 in Florida, the Rams traveled to Charleston, S.C. for the College of Charleston Classic. Fordham went 3-2 on the trip, improving its record to 5-3 on the season.

Their first game was on Valentine’s Day, against the Mississippi Rebels. For the fourth straight game, Fordham scored in the first inning, as Gabby Luety’s sacrifice fly put the Rams up 1-0. The Rebels tied the game in the third inning on an RBI single by Allison Brown off Rams’ ace Michele Daubman, and took the lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Marina Parra. Then Fordham’s Elise Fortier stole the show. The shortstop from Rhode Island hit a solo homerun off Rebel starter Carly Hummel to tie the game at two in the bottom of the fourth, then added a two RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to put the Rams ahead 4-2. Mississippi would get one back on a Parra single in the top of the sixth, but it would not be able to complete the comeback as Fordham picked up the 4-3 victory.

The Rams’ next game last Friday did not go as well against the Kansas Jayhawks, a team Fordham was scheduled to play in Florida last weekend but was rained out. The Rams continued their streak of scoring in the first inning, as Luety’s RBI single put the Rams ahead 1-0 before they even took the field. After that, it was all Jayhawks. They would score two runs in the bottom of the third off Rams’ starter Rachel Gillen on an RBI single by Taylor Hatfield and an illegal pitch. They then added eight more in the bottom of the fifth to defeat Fordham, 10-1.

Saturday afternoon, the Rams took on the DePaul Blue Demons, which was another tough game for Fordham. The Blue Demons scored four runs. The big blow was a two-run home run by Kirsten Verdun off Daubman, and the Rams snapped their streak of scoring a run in the first inning at five games. The Rams were only able to get one hit off of DePaul’s starter Mary Connolly, and Daubman was roughed up for five runs in three innings as the Rams lost their second game in a row, 8-0.

Despite the loses, head coach Brigit Orchard said her team still benefitted from the live game experience.

“We’re learning a lot and getting experience: live hitting, being on dirt and just playing other teams instead of just being in the gym,” Orchard said. “We’re playing against good teams, seeing good pitching . . . even though we lose some of these games we’re still at an advantage because we’re trying to get better for our conference.”

That experience proved vital in Fordham’s next game against the host College of Charleston Cougars Saturday afternoon. The Rams got back to their habit of scoring in the first inning when outfielder Sydney Canessa hit a leadoff homerun off Cougars starter Samantha Martin to put Fordham up 1-0. Charleston scored three in the bottom of the second off Fordham’s Daubman on an error by Brianna Ciuffi. Charleston added another run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI triple by Kelsey Hodgson to make it 4-1 Cougars.

But the Rams responded with three runs in the top of the fifth, the big hit being a two run homerun by Fortier, to tie the game at four all. Then, in the top of the seventh, Daubman helped her own cause by hitting the go-ahead, solo homerun off Cougars’ reliever Hope Klicker. Daubman would pitch the seventh inning, earning her the complete game victory and improving her record to 3-2 on the season, as Fordham defeated the College of Charleston, 5-4.

Fordham’s last game of the tournament was Sunday morning against the Western Carolina University Catamounts, and this one belonged to Fordham’s starter Lauren Quense. All were scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when Quense’s RBI single off Catamount starter Jordan Garrett gave Fordham the lead. Quense went on to pitch a complete game shutout, surrendering seven hits while striking out three in her first career start, as Fordham went on to beat Western Carolina 1-0 and going 3-2 in the College of Charleston Classic.

Orchard praised both Daubman and Quense for their abilities not only as pitchers, but at multiple positions.

“It’s nice to have athletic pitchers that can hit and field. When [Daubman]’s not pitching she’s playing in the outfield, and the same thing with Lauren Quense when she’s not pitching she’s playing first,” she said. “It’s just nice because they stay in the game a little more and obviously they can help themselves when they’re pitching. They’re just athletic and they play hard.”

The Rams will travel to California this week for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, and coach Orchard expects those games to be even tougher.

“As our schedule goes on, our games are getting harder and harder,” she said. “Playing these top teams everything is just triple speed. So for us it’s hopefully getting us prepared when we come back and play some East Coast teams and in our conference we’ll be ready to go.”

Fordham’s first game is tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. against Cal Poly.