George Washington University
33-21
Dayton
30-24
Softball Closes Season at A-10 Championship
5/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BRONX, N.Y. - George Washington softball closed its season at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Thursday, dropping a 4-3 decision to Dayton at Bahoshy Field.
Earlier in the day, the Colonials fell to host Fordham, 8-0, in five innings.GW's stay at the A-10 Championship, which started Wednesday with a 2-1 win over Dayton, capped a record-breaking campaign.
The Colonials posted 33 wins in their second spring under head coach James DeFeo, five more than the previous program best set last season. They got there on the strength of a nationally ranked offense that rewrote the program record book by setting new highs in batting average (.328), hits (493), home runs (42), steals (108) and a slew of other categories. That production led to six A-10 postseason honorees, including five All-Conference Second Team picks, to tie another program record.
Marta Fuentes totaled three hits Thursday to tie GW Hall of Famer Elana Meyers Taylor's program record for hits in a season with 65. The junior from Florida also broke the program record for steals (32) and runs scored (49) in a season in her first campaign in Buff and Blue. She earned a spot on the All A-10 Championship Team after posting six hits in 10 at-bats, including a triple, in GW's three games.
Dayton 4, GW 3: After the Colonials rallied to tie it at 3 in the top of the sixth, the third-seeded Flyers (30-24) went back in front for good in the bottom of the inning. Kyle Davidson's single to center plated the go-ahead run.
GW erased its 3-0 deficit with a two-out rally in the sixth. Morgan Rinehart's two-out single brought home Jenna Cone, who had been hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.
Then, Rochelle Draper battled the count to 3-2 and flared one into right, where it was dropped allowing Sierra Lange and Rinehart to score to tie the game.
Dayton rebounded, taking advantage of a walk and a hit by pitch to break the tie before Manda Cash fired a 1-2-3 seventh to finish her complete-game victory.
Fuentes had two of GW's five hits, plus a walk and a stolen base. Elena Shelepak, Lange and Rinehart supplied the others.
Fordham 8, GW 0 (5 innings): GW recorded seven hits, with at least one in every inning, but couldn't push anything across against pitcher Madie Aughinbaugh and the five-time defending A-10 champion Rams.
No. 2 seed Fordham (31-21) broke through with four runs in the third against starter Lange via a pair of run-scoring doubles and Chelsea Skrepenak's two-run home run. The Rams' lead reached 8-0 on Jordy Storm's pinch-hit grand slam off reliever Kaitlin Buff an inning later.
GW's hits came from six different players with Cone providing a pair of singles. Sidney Bloomfield smacked her first career double in the third inning. The Colonials threatened with two hits in both the third and fourth but couldn't turn them into runs.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: CASH, M. (15-7)
L: Lange, Sierra (15-8)
Batting:
RBI: Rinehart, Morgan 1
SH: Bloomfield, Sidney 1 ; Rinehart, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cone, Jenna 1 ; Lange, Sierra 1 ; Rinehart, Morgan 1
SB: Fuentes, Marta 1 ; Rinehart, Morgan 1
HBP: Cone, Jenna 1 ; Lange, Sierra 1
Batting:
2B: FITZGERALD 1 ; ZIEGLER, E. 1
RBI: DAVIDSON, K. 1 ; ZIEGLER, E. 2 ; MALOOF, M. 1
SH: DAVIDSON, K. 1 ; FITZGERALD 1 ; MALOOF, M. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: EHRENBORG, A 1 ; FITZGERALD 1 ; ZIEGLER, E. 1 ; HERATY, H. 1
SB: DAVIDSON, K. 1 ; TASSI, L. 1 ; SIDOR, B. 1
HBP: CASH, M. 1
