May 10, 2007

AMHERST, Mass. - Fordham (39-18) took advantage of Saint Louis pitching mistakes and defensive miscues as it claimed a 10-2 five-inning win over the Billikens on day two of the Atlantic 10 Softball Championship in Amherst, Mass. SLU (27-32) will play the winner of the Charlotte/Temple contest tomorrow at 11 a.m. (CT).

Saint Louis jumped all over Fordham starting pitcher Nicole Ayres in the top of the first. Rachel Heet reached on a one-out double to left center and Christy Ernst joined her on the base paths by drawing a two-out walk. Shana Richard then smacked a high chopper toward the second baseman, who committed an error allowing Heet to score and Ernst to go to third. Annie Dillinger then singled through the right side to plate the Billikens' second run.

The Rams fought back immediately by cutting the SLU lead to one in the bottom of the first. Fordham put two runners in scoring position after a pair of singles and an illegal pitch by the Bills' Ashley Levan moved each of the runners up a base. An Allison Twarowski single up the middle brought in the Rams' run.

Fordham tied things up quickly in the third as Krystle Henry beat out the throw for a leadoff single. Melissa Andrews then stroked an RBI triple over Dillinger's head in centerfield for the tie. A Billiken error on the infield helped Fordham take the lead one batter later when Andrews crossed. Following a strikeout, the Rams put another runner on courtesy of a SLU error. Erin Fisher then hit a towering home run over the scoreboard in left field to make it 6-2.

SLU reliever Lorena Floccari didn't fare much better than Levan as she issued a leadoff walk in the fourth and Andrews doubled down the left field line to put a pair in scoring position. Twarowski then flew out to Dillinger in center for the first out but it was deep enough that the runner was able to score from third on the sacrifice fly. Floccari struck out the ensuing batter but another Billiken error put Rams on the corners with two outs. Then Fisher and Mary Beth Puccio hit back-to-back RBI singles to put SLU in a 9-2 hole.

Andrews doubled down the left field line with two outs in the fifth and came around to score on Tawarowski's hit to the outfield to end the game courtesy of the eight-run rule.

Levan (12-10) shouldered the loss as she scattered six hits and six runs while striking out one. Ayres improved to 17-4 with the victory. She fanned three, walked two and surrendered three hits.

Heet recorded two of SLU's three hits, while Dillinger tallied the remaining hit. Fordham's Andrews went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a triple.