Rams Clinch A-10 Title, Gillen Throws No-No

By ANTHONY PUCIK

Fordham swept the A-10 awards this week. Fortier, Gillen and Amy Van Hoven were Player, Pitcher, and Rookie of the Week.  (JOSHUA KIM/THE RAM)

Fordham swept the A-10 awards this week. Fortier, Gillen and Amy Van Hoven were Player, Pitcher, and Rookie of the Week. (JOSHUA KIM/THE RAM)

It has been a great 22-game stretch for Fordham softball. They won 15 in a row and 21 of those 22 games with a 13-1 Atlantic 10 record en route to the A-10 regular season title. This stretch improved Fordham’s record to 33-16 on the season.

Doubleheaders have been the norm for Fordham in the month of April. They faced the University of Rhode Island, Binghamton University, St. Louis University and the University of Massachusetts, sweeping all four doubleheaders.

Their next after these was Tuesday, April 22, at home against A-10 conference rival St. Bonaventure, and it was here where junior pitcher Rachel Gillen stole the show. The Bonnies started off the first game with two runs in the top of the third inning off Fordham’s junior ace Michele Daubman. The Rams countered in the bottom of the inning with two sacrifice flies by senior Elise Fortier and junior Paige Ortiz and an RBI single by Gillen to take a 3-2 lead.

Fordham added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run by freshman Sydney Canessa, RBI singles from junior Kayla Lombardo, senior Gabby Luety and Daubman and a Gillen RBI ground out to take an 8-2 lead. A fielder’s choice RBI for St. Bonaventure’s Ashl Snider cut into the Rams’ lead, but a Luety sacrifice fly brought the lead back to six at 9-3. The Bonnies would score three runs off reliever Patti Maloney, but it was not enough as Fordham won the first game. Daubman picked up her 14th win of the season (14-9) for the Rams, and the Bonnies’ Carly Bilchak suffered the loss (1-7).

It was during the second game of the twin bill when history would occur. Two home runs each by Fortier and Luety accounted for eight of Fordham’s 12 runs in a 12-0 shutout for starter Rachel Gillen. More impressively, Gillen walked three but did not surrender a hit, making her the 13th pitcher in Fordham history to pitch a no-hitter.  Gillen picked up her seventh win of the season (7-3) while Aleix Sloat received the loss for the Bonnies (1-7).

“It’s definitely an awesome moment and something I’ll always remember,” Gillen said of the no-hitter. “We’ve had so many talented pitchers come through our program, and combined with the other three we have on staff now, it’s a crazy thought to know that I’m in such a small group.”

Gillen did not realize she was pitching a no-hitter until very late in the game. “I actually looked up at the scoreboard with two outs in the fifth because I had put a runner on with a walk,” she said. “I glanced up and saw the zeroes and kind of thought ‘Oh wow don’t let up now’ and just trusted Gabby behind the plate and knew the defense was behind me. The offense really exploded in the second game especially.”

For the Delaware native, who had gone through Tommy John surgery, which she called the hardest experience of her life, pitching a no-hitter has an even greater meaning. “I’ve had my ups and downs but the coaches and the team have really stuck with me, so for [the game] to play out the way it did was a really special moment in the whole comeback process,” she said.

Fordham’s next doubleheader was on the road against A-10 opponent La Salle Explorers. In the first game, the Rams got the scoring started when Gillen reached second on an error that allowed two runs to score, giving Fordham the early 2-0 lead on Explorer starter Alicia Aughton. La Salle tied the game quickly in the bottom of the inning on a two-run home run by Aughton off Daubman. Fordham turned to the long ball in the top of the third when Luety went deep for a three-run home run, giving Fordham the 5-2 advantage.

Fordham added five more in the fourth on a Fortier RBI walk and a Lombardo grand slam, and one in the top of the fifth on an error to earn the 11-2 victory. Daubman earned another win (15-9) and handed Aughton her ninth loss (11-9).

In the second game it was much of the same, as Fordham’s offense dominated Explorer pitching. A Daubman RBI single in the top of the second gave Fordham a 1-0 lead. Then a grand slam by Fortier in the top of the third increased the lead to five. The Explorers picked up two off Fordham’s Gillen in the bottom of the fourth on a Christina Bascara home run and an error to make it 5-2. But Fordham would add three more on Fortier’s second home run of the game, this one a three-run blast which gave Fordham the 8-2 advantage and the win.

Gillen went four innings for the win (8-3), Mary Cate Scott picked up the loss for La Salle (7-11) and Maloney’s three shutout innings of relief earned her save number four on the season. This was the win that clinched the A-10 title for Fordham.

Fordham has one more doubleheader in conference on the road against the University of Dayton on Saturday, May 3, before returning to the Bronx for the A-10 tournament as the No. 1 seed on home turf, Bahoshy Field.

Anthony Pucik is Assistant Sports Editor at The Fordham Ram.

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