Rams Sweep Colonial in Doubleheader

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, April 1- On Saturday afternoon, the Fordham Rams (20-11, 4-0) swept a softball doubleheader, 8-3, 3-0, over the George Washington Colonials (11-15, 0-2) on the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. After playing its first 25 games in the South, the Rams have won all five of their games since returning to the New York area.

The teams looked evenly matched in the early innings of Game One. The first contest was knotted at one at the end of the first four frames. George Washington scored the first run of the game in the top of the third. Fordham evened the score in the bottom of the inning as catcher Gabby Leuty doubled in a run.

Fordham went ahead by two runs in the fifth as Leuty and shortstop Elise Fortier went deep with back-to-back solo home runs. The Colonials scored two in the top of the sixth to again tie the game, but Fordham ensured the victory in Game One with five runs in the sixth. The big blast was a three-run homer by Fortier, her second of the contest.

Jamie LaBovick (10-7) earned her 10th win of the year after surrendering seven hits and two earned runs in six innings in the circle. LaBovick also, as has become the custom, was effective at the plate. She hit safely twice, scoring a run and driving in a second. The .400 hitter this season tied a Fordham record set by Nicole Callahan in 2012 by hitting successfully in her 17th consecutive game.

In the second game of the day, sophomore Michelle Daubman (10-4) earned her 10th victory of 2013 by hurling her second straight complete game shutout win. Daubman gave up only four hits and one base on balls during her impressive outing.

Neither team was on the board during the first four innings. A single by LaBovick followed by Leuty’s second homer of the day gave Fordham its first two runs of the nightcap in the fifth. The final run of the game was driven in by a double by Fordham’s Paige Ortiz in the sixth.

A single by LaBovick, playing at first base in the second game, in the third inning set a new Fordham consecutive game hitting record of 18 games.

After playing two games on the road against the University of Massachusetts next weekend, the Rams return to the Bronx on Sunday, April 7, to host a doubleheader against the University of Rhode Island Rams.