The Fordham softball team split a nonconference series with the United States Military Academy (USMA) last weekend, with each team winning two games. After several consecutive weekends of domination against inferior competition for the Rams, all four of their games against the Army Black Knights were decided by two or fewer runs.

Following the series, Fordham Head Coach Melissa Inouye gave credit to Army for solid play, as well as her players’ offensive improvement throughout the weekend.

“What a good four-game series this weekend against a quality opponent,” Inouye said. “Offensively, we did a good job with our at-bats, getting better and better as the games went on.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Fordham took advantage of sloppy defensive play from Army to score two quick runs.

Nonconference series are typically uncommon so late in the spring season for the softball team, but the COVID-19 pandemic has obliterated any semblance of normalcy in college athletics. On Friday, April 9, the University of Rhode Island announced that the softball team was entering a two-week pause following a positive COVID-19 test within the program. 

This left Fordham, which had just won its 20th straight game, without an Atlantic 10 (A10) opponent for the weekend of April 17. The team was also supposed to have a single nonconference game on Wednesday, April 14, against the University of Connecticut, but that game was canceled as well following a positive test within the Huskies’ program. 

Facing an entire week without playing time, the team began looking for new opponents and discovered that Army, a team competing in the Patriot League, was originally supposed to have the weekend off. The new games were set, and while the results don’t have any bearing on A10 conference standings, the Black Knights proved to be a worthy opponent in a back-and-forth series.

In the first game, both teams encountered familiar foes on the mound as Madie Aughinbaugh, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences ’22, and Jolie Duong, USMA ’22, faced off as starting pitchers. Both players pitched when the teams played on March 5, a game that Fordham won 5-4. Duong had been serviceable for the Black Knights in several appearances since, but her statistics paled in comparison to those of Aughinbaugh, who entered the series against Army with an 11-0 record and 68 strikeouts in 12 appearances.

In the bottom of the first inning, Fordham took advantage of sloppy defensive play from Army to score two quick runs. The Black Knights responded at the plate when Megan Muffett, USMA ’21, hit a solo home run to bring the game within a run, but Fordham struck again in the bottom of the second. 

The Rams had Aughinbaugh on first base and Brianna Pinto, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’21, on third. With one out in the inning, Aughinbaugh stole second base, which took the focus away from Pinto on third, who successfully stole home to extend Fordham’s lead, 3-1.

Both pitchers settled down after allowing runs early, and neither team scored again until the seventh inning. With one more chance to come back against the Rams, the Black Knights began a small rally against Aughinbaugh on a fielding error and single. On an 0-1 count with two outs and runners on first and third, leadoff batter Angelina Bebek, USMA ’23, hit a three-run home run to give Army its first lead of the game.

For most of the day, Aughinbaugh was brilliant, but with two swings of the bat in the second and seventh innings, she allowed two home runs that decided the game. Fordham failed to muster another run in the bottom of the seventh and fell 4-3.

The Rams had just lost their first game since March 10 but competed well in the second game of the Saturday doubleheader. In an eerily similar reflection of the first game, Army took an early 2-0 lead, but Fordham evened the score in the third and fourth, the latter run coming on a solo home run from Bailey Enoch, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’23.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Julia Martine, GSBRH ’22, finally gave Fordham a 3-2 lead with another solo home run. Just as Army had done in the first game, the Rams took command with explosive offense late in the contest. Starting pitcher Devon Miller, FCRH ’23, finished the game with a scoreless seventh inning, evening the series at one win apiece heading into the second doubleheader Sunday.

Normally, a difference of two runs is considered close, but in Fordham’s series against Army, the 5-3 victory in the third game seemed comfortable compared to the one-run bouts surrounding it. The Rams earned a 4-1 lead, the largest lead of the series at that point, in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Pinto. Army rallied the following inning with two runs, but it wasn’t enough to bridge the gap and prevent Fordham’s second victory of the weekend. 

After three close games, the fourth also came down to a single run. But unlike the rest of the series, which featured low-scoring, back-and-forth contests, the final game between the Rams and Black Knights began as a one-sided romp.

“I’m so proud of our team for fighting to come back down eight runs, including plenty of two-out magic. Tremendous long relief outing by Mak, too, as she really gave us a chance to win and kept them off balance.”Melissa Inouye, Fordham softball head coach

In her first start of the season, Gianna Ranieri, FCRH ’21, was not in an enviable position. Army had been held in check all weekend by Fordham’s best pitchers, but without any prior experience this season, Ranieri struggled against the Black Knights. She allowed four runs in the first inning, three of them on a home run by Grace Snyder, USMA ’23. 

In the second, Ranieri allowed three more runs and exited without recording a single out. Makenzie McGrath, GSBRH ’22, took over to control the damage, but she still allowed another run to give Army an 8-0 lead.

With the mercy rule looming, Fordham finally chipped away in the fourth inning with back-to-back home runs from Aughinbaugh and Enoch to cut the deficit to five. The Black Knights scored another run in the top of the sixth, but the Rams continued to surge from behind, scoring three more runs on a five-hit rally in the bottom of the inning. All of a sudden, the game was within reach for Fordham as they trailed 9-6, but the team was running out of time.

Barring any further complications, Fordham should return to A10 Conference play, in which they still hold an undefeated record, next weekend against La Salle University.

The bottom of the seventh inning was the Rams’ last opportunity to score, and after two quick fly balls, they were still down three. Anne Marie Prentiss, FCRH ’21, homered to keep Fordham’s hopes alive, and Aubree Barney, FCRH ’21, kept the rally going with a single. Michaela Carter, FCRH ’23, drove her in on a triple, but with the tying run on third, the Rams fell just short. Pinto flew out on a foul ball, and Fordham lost the final game of the series 9-8.

After the final game, Inouye remained optimistic in defeat, noting McGrath’s strong pitching performance, as the junior pitched six innings and only allowed one run after Army’s initial barrage. Inouye was also happy with the team’s resilience at the plate playing from behind.

“I’m so proud of our team for fighting to come back down eight runs, including plenty of two-out magic,” Inouye said. “Tremendous long relief outing by Mak, too, as she really gave us a chance to win and kept them off balance.”

The Rams’ two defeats against the Black Knights may have been gut-wrenching in different ways, but throughout the weekend, the team was never completely out of the running against a reasonably strong opponent.

Barring any further complications, Fordham should return to A10 Conference play, in which they still hold an undefeated record, next weekend against La Salle University. Without making any bold presumptions, it’s safe to assume that the 25-5 Rams will give the 0-19 Explorers about as much as they can handle.