Friday, May 14
Merion Station, PA
2:30 PM
George Washington University
35-9
8
vs
1
Fordham
37-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Fordham
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
6
2
George Washington
0
0
0
0
0
8
X
8
11
0
Photo by: Mitchell Leff/Atlantic 10
Softball Headed Back to A-10 Final
5/14/2021 5:39:00 PM | Softball
Colonials eliminated Fordham with late rally on Friday
MERION STATION, Pa. - In need of a rally to extend its stay at the Atlantic 10 Championship, GW softball exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Fordham, 8-1, on Friday afternoon at SJU Softball Field.
Alessandra Ponce's two-run home run put the Buff and Blue in front, and the hits kept coming in a memorable offensive onslaught to clinch a return trip to the A-10 final.
After the exhilarating victory, top-seeded GW is set to face No. 4 Dayton for the conference crown on Saturday at noon and will need to defeat the Flyers twice to celebrate a title in the double-elimination tournament.
On Friday, GW had been held in check all afternoon by Fordham ace Madie Aughinbaugh before the resounding breakthrough that helped the Buff and Blue win their second straight elimination game and knock out the Rams, who shared the 2019 title with GW and had represented the conference at the past seven NCAA Tournaments.
With GW trailing 1-0, Lange singled to lead off the sixth, and then Ponce launched her 11th long ball of the season to flip the script. The Buff and Blue ended up piling on six more runs thanks to five more hits and a Fordham error.
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Hannah Eslick drove in a pair with a single, Jenna Cone smacked an RBI double and Lange finished the scoring with a two-run single of her own.
After those offensive fireworks, Lange returned to the circle to finish off her complete-game victory. The A-10 Pitcher of the Year allowed just one run on six hits while recording nine Ks against two walks.
Lange ceded a run in the third inning but was able to keep Fordham from adding on to their lead. She expertly escaped a fourth-inning jam that saw her record back-to-back Ks and a flyout after allowing a single and a double to lead off the frame.
Lange helped her own cause with the two hits and two RBIs in the sixth. Cone doubled twice in the game, and Faith Weber and Hannah Eslick also had multi-hit efforts.
Ponce's two-run shot gives her a team-high 56 RBIs this season.
Now, GW turns its attention to Saturday's final, which will be a rematch of Thursday's tournament opener won by Dayton by a score of 2-0.
The Buff and Blue will try to close out their first A-10 Championship title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. In 2019, they entered the final unbeaten and then dropped a game to Fordham before the winner-take-all finale was rained out and co-champions were crowned.
This is the program's third overall trip to the final after also playing for a title in 2012.
Alessandra Ponce's two-run home run put the Buff and Blue in front, and the hits kept coming in a memorable offensive onslaught to clinch a return trip to the A-10 final.
After the exhilarating victory, top-seeded GW is set to face No. 4 Dayton for the conference crown on Saturday at noon and will need to defeat the Flyers twice to celebrate a title in the double-elimination tournament.
On Friday, GW had been held in check all afternoon by Fordham ace Madie Aughinbaugh before the resounding breakthrough that helped the Buff and Blue win their second straight elimination game and knock out the Rams, who shared the 2019 title with GW and had represented the conference at the past seven NCAA Tournaments.
With GW trailing 1-0, Lange singled to lead off the sixth, and then Ponce launched her 11th long ball of the season to flip the script. The Buff and Blue ended up piling on six more runs thanks to five more hits and a Fordham error.
Â
SANIE PONCE! That CLUTCH two-run shot gives the Buff & Blue the lead! #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/mUzNZEdw5P
— GW Softball (@GW_Softball) May 14, 2021
Hannah Eslick drove in a pair with a single, Jenna Cone smacked an RBI double and Lange finished the scoring with a two-run single of her own.
After those offensive fireworks, Lange returned to the circle to finish off her complete-game victory. The A-10 Pitcher of the Year allowed just one run on six hits while recording nine Ks against two walks.
Lange ceded a run in the third inning but was able to keep Fordham from adding on to their lead. She expertly escaped a fourth-inning jam that saw her record back-to-back Ks and a flyout after allowing a single and a double to lead off the frame.
Lange helped her own cause with the two hits and two RBIs in the sixth. Cone doubled twice in the game, and Faith Weber and Hannah Eslick also had multi-hit efforts.
Ponce's two-run shot gives her a team-high 56 RBIs this season.
Now, GW turns its attention to Saturday's final, which will be a rematch of Thursday's tournament opener won by Dayton by a score of 2-0.
The Buff and Blue will try to close out their first A-10 Championship title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. In 2019, they entered the final unbeaten and then dropped a game to Fordham before the winner-take-all finale was rained out and co-champions were crowned.
This is the program's third overall trip to the final after also playing for a title in 2012.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lange, Sierra (19-8)
L: AUGHINBAUGH (14-3)
Batting:
2B: ENOCH 1 ; CARTER 1
RBI: MARTINE 1
SH: AUGHINBAUGH 1 ; MARTINE 1
SF: MARTINE 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CARTER 1
Batting:
2B: Cone, Jenna 2 ; Weber, Faith 1
HR: Ponce, Alessandra 1
RBI: Cone, Jenna 1 ; Lange, Sierra 2 ; Ponce, Alessandra 2 ; Eslick, Hannah 2
SH: Bloomfield, Sidney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Linquist, Jessica 1 ; Cone, Jenna 1 ; Lange, Sierra 1 ; Ponce, Alessandra 1 ; Stancil, Darbie 1 ; Weber, Faith 1 ; Greco, Maggie 1 ; Lotz, Amber 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballUT
/ SoftballSoftball Gratitude Video
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