Fordham (36-18) scored four in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead and added four on Gillen’s fifth homer of the year to swing the momentum back in its favor.

The Rams earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship and will find out their destination and opponent on Sunday night when the NCAA Selection Show airs on ESPNU at 10 pm ET.

Gillen (23-8), who was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player, earned her third win of the week and was 2-for-4 with four RBI and a pair of runs on Saturday. Amy Van Hoven also collected a pair of hits and Sydney Canessa had two-run double.

Dayton (39-14) reached the title game for the first time in school history after setting the program record for victories for the second-consecutive season.

With neither team able to get much offense going through three innings, the Rams broke through with four in the fourth. Kayla Lombardo reached on a fielding error by Kayla Haberstich and moved to third on a Gillen double to right. Lombardo scored two batters later when Michele Daubman then hit a ball to left that was trapped on top of the wall by Natalie Mariano before it rolled onto the track.

Gillen scored on a fielder’s choice to third before Canessa made it a 4-0 game with a 2-out double to right.

UD cut the deficit in half in the sixth when Tiffany Ricks went opposite field for a 2-out, 2-run HR. It was the A-10 Player of the Year’s league-leading 14th homer of the season.

Fordham got the momentum back in the top of the seventh when it loaded the bases on a pair of infield singles and a hit batter, leading to Gillen’s slam.

The title was Fordham’s third-straight and fourth in the last five years.

The 2015 Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team
Gabrielle Snyder, Dayton
Manda Cash, Dayton
Tiffany Ricks, Dayton
Sydney Canessa, Fordham
Lindsay Mayer, Fordham
Rachel Gillen, Fordham
Cora Ianiro, Fordham
Liz Seymour, George Mason
Brooke Blankenship, George Mason
Michelle Hagarty, La Salle
Kelli Rohan, St. Bonaventure