George Washington University
42-16
Fordham
29-24
Softball Falls to Fordham at A-10 Championship
5/11/2019 4:07:00 PM | Softball
Colonials set for winner-take-all game vs. Rams on Sunday
After a 3-0 start at the tournament, the No. 3 seed Colonials missed an opportunity to clinch their first conference crown, but they'll get another chance Sunday in a rematch vs. the Rams with a noon first pitch at Sortino Field.
GW (42-16) got its first A-10 final appearance since 2012 off to a flying start, jumping on top quickly with a pair of runs in the top of the first.Â
The Colonials loaded the bases with two outs via a Jessica Linquist single, a Priscilla Martinez double and an Alessandra Ponce walk before Elena Shelepak brought in a run with a free pass and Hannah Eslick added an RBI single.
Fordham, which clinched a spot in the final with a run-rule win over Saint Joseph's earlier in the day, found an answer to extend the double-elimination tournament.
The Rams tied it up with single runs in the first and third and then went in front in the fifth. Molly Roark socked a two-run home run to break the deadlock, and the A-10 regular season champs added an RBI single later in the frame to push the lead to 5-2.
GW put runners on base in six of seven innings but didn't score after the strong opening frame. The Colonials left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings and stranded 10 runners in all.
Ponce reached base three times with a single, a double and a walk, while Marta Fuentes collected a pair of hits. Linquist (single, HBP) and Jenna Cone (single, walk) both reached twice at the top of the lineup.
Sierra Lange went the distance in the circle for the Colonials, tossing her fourth complete game of the tournament and 29th of the season.
UP NEXT:Â GW faces Fordham on Sunday at noon for the A-10 title with the winner earning the conference's automatic NCAA bid.
WATCH THIS:Â Head coach Shane Winkler looks ahead to the high-stakes rematch vs. the Rams.
"We're ready to bounce back. We still have a good mindset. We're confident with where we're going."
— GW Softball (@GW_Softball) May 11, 2019
Head Coach Shane Winkler looks ahead to tomorrow's winner-take-all @atlantic10 final. #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/iQR1oOw25a
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: AUGHINBAUGH, Madie (17-12)
L: Lange, Sierra (29-12)
Batting:
2B: Martinez, Priscilla 1 ; Ponce, Alessandra 1
RBI: Shelepak, Elena 1 ; Eslick, Hannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lange, Sierra 1 ; Ortlieb, Olivia 1
HBP: Linquist, Jessica 1
Batting:
2B: ROARK, Molly 1 ; AUGHINBAUGH, Madie 1 ; MICHAEL, Kylie 1
HR: ROARK, Molly 1
RBI: ROARK, Molly 2 ; TRIVELPIECE, Maria 1 ; MARTINE, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SKREPENAK, Chelsea 2 ; ROARK, Molly 1 ; SPEER, Gigi 1 ; PRENTISS, Anne Marie 1
SB: SKREPENAK, Chelsea 1
