FAIRFAX, Va. – Despite top-seeded George Washington forcing a decisive final clash behind a Game 10 victory, No. 2 overall Fordham utilized the team's advantageous position coming out of the winner's bracket as well as a masterful performance in the circle by Devon Miller to slowly overpower the Colonials down the stretch of the Atlantic 10 Softball Championship Final, eventually claiming a 6-3 win and the title Saturday afternoon at the George Mason Softball Complex.
With the split, the Rams lock down the program's ninth-ever Atlantic 10 Softball Championship Title as well as the league's automatic berth into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Selections and matchups for the NCAA Championship are set to be announced on Sunday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m. via ESPN2.
The 2022 Atlantic 10 Softball All-Championship Team was composed of Dayton's Kelsey Gumm and Emma Schutter, Massachusetts' Grace Cadden, Saint Louis' Allie Herron and Sadie Wise, George Washington's Hannah Eslick, Sierra Lange and Alexa Williams and Fordham's Amanda Carey, Bailey Enoch and Devon Miller. Enoch, who finished with three RBI and one home run behind a .556 batting average and .733 on-base percentage, earned distinction as the Most Outstanding Player.
GAME ONE
In spite of the Rams jumping out by one run early on, GW proved as unfazed as the team's No. 1 seed suggests, calmly composing a four-run third inning behind a Williams two-RBI single into center field before an Alessandra Ponce sac fly and an Eslick RBI single knocked home one more score apiece. Williams proceeded to drive in two more insurance in the fourth as well, sending a triple all the to the left-center wall while both Lange and Olivia Vinyard crossed home plate.
Lange and Colonials defense proceeded to put out fires for the rest of the contest, surrendering just one run to Fordham during an attempted rally in the fifth in addition to a Rachel Hubertus solo bomb near the close of the seventh. Lange, who secured her second-consecutive A-10 Pitcher of the Year laurels, recorded her 27th win of the 2022 campaign for her efforts in the circle, setting down five batters on strikes while surrendering just two earned runs on seven hits and three walks.
GAME TWO
Even after falling to the Colonials in the morning's opening matchup, Fordham remained in high spirits as the decisive final contest began in the early hours of Saturday afternoon. A two-run first frame for the Rams added to that already-energetic base, igniting when Julia Martine's fielder's choice plated Michaela Carter before a Miller RBI single through the left-side tacked on one more.
After GW responded with a lone score in the second to narrow the deficit down to just one, Fordham snatched the momentum right back in the top of the third behind an Enoch solo shot over the right-center wall. The hits continued rolling in for the Rams in the fourth, as a Brianna Pinto double put up two more insurance runs; Hubertus also contributed one more RBI single in the sixth as well.
A pair of sac flies from the Colonials narrowed the gap slightly, but consistent Rams pitching from Miller continually shut the door on any GW offensive sparks. The junior's elite showing inside the circle kept GW hitters out of sync throughout the contest, as she gave up three earned runs on just four hits and three walks while striking out a trio as well.