As Fordham Softball took their home field for the last time this season, there was a little bit of everything: a walk-off home run, a first collegiate win and four seniors celebrating their senior day. The homestand ended with a sweep of the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutewomen.
Fordham University secured its first win of the weekend Friday evening, after the series was rearranged due to forecasted rain on Saturday. The Rams jumped ahead of the Minutewomen in the first. Junior Neleh Nogay singled to lead off the bottom of the inning.
A sacrifice fly by junior Eva Koratsis brought home the speedy Nogay for a 1-0 lead. The home team tagged on another run in the third. Sophomore Mikayla Swan singled, then scored on a single by senior Sydney Wells.
UMass cut the lead to one in the fourth. The leadoff batter for the Minutewomen reached on an error. A two-out single later in the inning off of junior Holly Beeman allowed the runner to score. The next inning, UMass took a 3-2 lead on a two-run homer. The Rams, though, strung together a three-run fifth to retake the lead 5-3. A pair of singles and stolen bases by Nogay and Wells put runners in scoring position. Junior Nicki Sudall walked to load the bases for Koratsis. With the junior at the plate, an error by the UMass center fielder allowed two runs to score. Sophomore Erin Hoppe had driven in a run on an RBI single to tack on another insurance run. In the bottom of the sixth, Sudall notched an RBI single to right field to cap off the scoring for the Rams.
Beeman was strong in the circle for Fordham, allowing three earned runs and nine hits with one walk and two strikeouts over a complete game effort. She improves to 12-6 on the season.
In what looked like a rough start to their senior day on Sunday, the Rams came back with a walkoff in game one of a doubleheader. UMass took an early lead, scoring three off senior Emilee Watkins over the first two innings. After putting two on with no outs in the third, freshman Elizabeth Gaisior relieved Watkins to get out of the jam.
Fordham remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Wells led off the inning with a double, followed by an RBI single by Sudall to put the Rams on the board. Still down by two, Fordham needed a rally with two outs and no one on. That’s exactly what they got. Swan and Nogay had back-to-back singles to keep the home team alive. Then, in typical fashion, Wells hit a three-run homer to walk off the Minutewomen — and ensure a memorable senior day.
While the walk-off victory seems to be the highlight of the middle game of the series, a near-perfect pitching performance by Gaisior is just as memorable. After relieving Watkins with no outs in the third, the freshman pitcher had five strikeouts over five near-perfect innings, with just one baserunner reaching on an error. The comeback win for Fordham also secured Gaisior her first collegiate win.
The Rams secured the sweep with a 9-2 victory over UMass in the series finale on Sunday. With Gaisior continuing in the circle for game two of the doubleheader, she gave up her first hit of the day to lead off the first. A sacrifice fly allowed the runner to score and put the Minutewomen up 1-0. Fordham responded quickly with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Nogay, Wells and Sudall all singled to load the bases with no outs in the first. Junior Kate McGuire and Hoppe followed suit with back-to-back, one-out singles to give the Rams a 3-1 lead.
Loading the bases again in the second, a single up the middle by Koratsis scored two to extend Fordham’s lead to 5-1. Senior Mallory McClellan added two more for the Rams with a two-out double in the fourth. With Beeman pitching in relief, UMass tagged on a run in the fifth on a pair of singles and a walk. Fordham responded with two more runs in the fifth and sixth on another RBI single by Koratsis and a bases-loaded walk by Wells to cap off the win.
Gaisior earned her second win of the day and the season in the finale. She was beyond impressive in Sunday’s doubleheader. In her second game, the freshman allowed one run and four hits with three walks over three and 1/3 innings. Although it was senior day, Gaisior’s strong performance sends a promising message for the remainder of the season and the seasons to come for Fordham pitching.
The Rams celebrated four seniors between Sunday games: Allie Clark, McClellan, Watkins and Wells. While Watkins’ start did not go as planned in her last game on Murphy Field, her fellow seniors made the most of their senior day, each collecting at least one hit in the two victories. Wells came up big in game one on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with her 15th home run of the season in the form of a three-run, walk-off blast. McClellan went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in game two. Clark also notched a hit in the finale.
Improving to 15-8 in conference competition and 25-23 overall, Fordham moves to third in the Atlantic 10. The Rams will close out the regular season on the road in Kingston at the University of Rhode Island starting May 3, where they look to secure their spot in the A-10 tournament starting May 7.
