The Rams have played a very tough early season schedule, but have risen to the occassion. (Drew Diane for The Fordham Ram)
By ANTHONY PUCIK
Despite a 7-12 record, the softball team has made quite a name for itself thus far this season. Fordham ace Michele Daubman said it best: “We have played a very tough preseason schedule that included seven ranked opponents. We are looking to improve with each game, and our tough preseason schedule will better prepare us for our A-10 play.”
Despite the schedule, the Rams have played well against their opponents. They maintained their level of performance in Florida at the Under Armour Showcase, where they went 3-2, improving their season record to 10-14.
The Rams’ first game was against the Providence Friars on Friday, March 7. Daubman pitched a great game. Fordham got off to an excellent start with an RBI single by Kayla Lombardo off Friars’ starter Taylor Huntly in the first inning to put the Rams up 1-0. Providence responded in the bottom of the inning on a Daubman passed ball that allowed Kiara Baldassari to score. The score remained tied at one until the top of the sixth inning, when an RBI single by Paige Ortiz and a fielder’s choice by Sydney Canessa that scored Brianna Turgeon put the Rams up 3-1. That was all Daubman would need, as she pitched a complete two-hit game to earn Fordham its first win of the tournament.
Fordham was not as fortunate in its second game on Friday against the Central Michigan Chippewas. Central Michigan scored three runs in the bottom of the first off Fordham’s Lauren Quense on a steal of home by Evelyn Lorimer and a two-run homerun by Katelyn Renstchler to take a 3-0 lead. The Chippewas would add another run off a fielding error by Ortiz that scored Kristen Kuhlman. A Lombardo homerun in the top of the seventh cut the deficit to three, but that was the closest Central Michigan’s Rachael Knapp let the Rams get as they fell 4-1.
On Saturday, March 8, the Rams earned another win because of a second fabulous performance by Daubman against the Western Michigan Broncos. An RBI single by Canessa in the fifth inning off Western Michigan’s Allyson Kus was enough run support for Daubman. She pitched another complete game, this one a three-hit shutout, as Fordham blanked Western Michigan, 1-0.
Fordham’s next game against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga did not go in the Rams’ favor. The Mocs got the early 1-0 in the top of the first on an RBI single by Sarah Roberts off Quense. Fordham took the lead in the bottom of the inning via a three-RBI triple by Turgeon that made it 3-1 Rams. Chattanooga wasted no time getting the lead back, scoring three runs of its own in the top of the second on a two-RBI single by Anyssa Robles and an RBI double by Criket Blanco to retake the lead, 4-3. Chattanooga tacked on another two runs in the top of the sixth on a two-RBI single by Roberts to increase its lead to three. The Mocs then added four more in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Alyssa Taylor, a two-RBI double by Blanco and another RBI single by Roberts. The Rams fell 10-3, evening up their record at the Showcase.
The most exciting game of the tournament came on Sunday, March 9, against the Southern Illinois Salukis. Fortier kicked things off for the Rams in the bottom of the first with a two-run homerun off Southern Illinois’ Katie Bertelsen. The Salukis answered back in the top of the second with a two-run homerun of their own to tie the game at two. But the Rams retook the lead in the bottom of the inning off an RBI double by Ortiz and a two-run homerun by Canessa to make it 5-2. The Rams took a four-run lead in the bottom of the third on a Lombardo steal that allowed Fortier to score on the throw down to second. Southern Illinois responded in the top of the fifth in a big way. RBI doubles by Orsburn and Spivey and a bases-clearing error by Turgeon allowed five runs to come across, giving the Salukis a 7-6 lead. That score remained until the bottom of the seventh, when a Fortier fielder’s choice allowed a run to score and a throwing error by Southern Illinois’ third baseman Kelsea Ashton brought the game winning run home. Fordham earned the walk-off victory 8-7 in unorthodox fashion to finish the Under Armour Showcase with a winning record.
Fordham’s next tournament is the Chanticleer Showdown in South Carolina. Its first game is against Troy University on Saturday, March 15.
