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May 9, 2008

Final Stats

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Following a delay to this evening's first pitch as well as a pair of suspensions due to lightning, Fordham plated six runs in the top of the 13th inning en route to a thrilling come-from-behind 8-2 victory over the St. Bonaventure softball team on Friday in an Atlantic 10 Championship elimination game at the D.L. Phillips Softball Complex.

The Rams continued to be a nemesis for the Bonnies in A-10 tournament play as Fordham has knocked out the Brown and White in each of their three postseason appearances. Fordham also revenged a Bona series sweep from earlier this season as the Bonnies captured a pair of victories in the Bronx on April 13th.

St. Bonaventure finished the 2008 campaign with a 20-25 overall record for the program's second ever 20-win season and the second most single-season victories in school history. The club's second place finish in the league was their best finish in the A-10 since joining the conference in 1988.

Tonight's game also marked the final time seniors Brianna Bricker, Patricia McKeon and Kirstin Strong will step on the field in the Brown and White. The three will leave the program as the school's all-time winningest class with 75 career victories.

Fordham will advance to play Charlotte on Saturday morning with a berth in the 2008 title game against nationally ranked Massachusetts on the line.

After threatening in each of their at-bats during extra innings, the Rams finally crossed the plate in the top of the 13th with six runs to clinch the victory. Tonight's game matched an Atlantic 10 Championship record of 13 innings which last occurred in 1997. Fordham's 19 hits off sophomore Sherri Thompson also established a new tournament mark.

The Rams led off the 13th inning with three straight hits to load the bases with no outs. Following a strikeout from Thompson, Fordham created at least one run on their next five appearances at the plate to seal the win. Three of the club's six runs in the inning resulted from one-run singles into the outfield, while the Rams tallied two more runs following a Bona error at shortstop.

Following a pair of innings dominated by the pitchers, the Bonnies crossed the plate during the bottom of the third to take an early 1-0 edge over the Rams. Freshman Shelly Seeger drew a one-out walk to become the club's second base runner of the afternoon and quickly advanced into scoring position following a Kathryn Pazda ground out to second base.

Sophomore Andrea Swanger created the Brown and White's initial score of the tournament after being blanked in game one thanks to an RBI single into centerfield. The Bonnies left Swanger on second as senior Brianna Bricker's shot to deep center was corralled by the Fordham centerfielder on the warning track.

For the second inning in a row, the Brown and White plated a run to create a 2-0 cushion following four full frames of play. Despite leading off the fourth with a strikeout, Bona earned another one-out base on balls, sending sophomore Stephanie Narde to the first bag. In her third appearance at the A-10 Tournament, senior Patricia McKeon ripped a single through the left side placing a pair of Bona runners on base.

With runners on first and second, junior Ashley Kotz recorded the club's second straight single to score pinch-runner Blair Freeman all the way from second base to account for the Bonnies' two-run advantage.

Fordham sliced the Bona lead in half at 2-1 during the top of the fifth frame as the Rams tallied its first run of the day following a one-run double in centerfield from sophomore Erin Fisher.

Just as the Bonnies tallied a run in consecutive frames during the third and fourth frames, the Rams followed a run in the fifth with another tally in the sixth to even the score at 2-2. Mary Beth Puccio started things with a one-out single up the middle before pinch-runner Sarah Campbell moved to second base following a ground out to Bricker.

A pair of Bona miscues from Bricker led to the tying run as the senior was charged with a fielding error at third as well as a throwing error towards first base allowing Campbell to cross the plate and knot the contest heading into the final frame.

Thompson tossed the full 13 innings in the circle as the second-year ace dropped her third straight decision to finish her second season at 16-12. The Ulysses, Pa. native fanned nine Fordham batters, while issuing just one walk and allowing four earned runs. Thompson's 16 victories this year rank second on the all-time single-season win chart.

This afternoon's contest against the Rams proved to be an adventure as the game's start time was pushed back approximately one hour after the Massachusetts/Charlotte game went into extra innings. Furthermore, the game was suspended during both the bottom of the 10th and 13th innings due to lightning.