NEW YORK (4/21/01) - If ever the St. Joseph's softball team needed a sweep, this was the day. Heading into its showdown at Fordham, SJU has lost three in a row and 10 of its last 13. Despite playing well of late, the Hawks could ill afford to lose to the Rams if it wanted to stay in serious contention for a berth in the four-team A-10 tournament. So, behind the strong pitching of sophomore Brandie Adams and freshman Dana Travis, and timely hitting all around, SJU took both games of the doubleheader, 4-1 and 6-2, to even it's A-10 mark at 7-7 and take over sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings. A win in the series finale and the Hawks will be in a tie for fourth, and possibly even third, in the A-10 standings. The Hawks (16-19-1) jumped out early in game one, as freshman Lindsey McNamara singed home Kristin Nau, who had doubled to left, in the top of the first. Adams (5-10), kept the Rams at bay until the bottom of the fourth when three Fordham singles resulted in a run to knot the contest at 1-1. SJU broke the game open with three in the sixth. Missy Rhoades and Megan Brown had RBI singles with the two performing a double steal to plate Rhoades with the third run, making the score 4-1. Adams retired the final six Rams in order to break a personal seven game losing streak. The Hawk hurler, who has been involved in some tough decisions, most notably the 15-inning 2-1 loss to Rhode Island, lowered her ERA to 1.47 on the season. In the nightcap, SJU capitalized on some Fordham fielding miscues in the fifth to tally six runs and break a scoreless tie. Rhoades had an RBI double in the inning while Adams followed with a two-run single. Travis (9-7) allowed just five hits in the game, the big blow being a two-run homer off the bat of Marie Mitchell. Junior Teresa Andreani led SJU, batting 4-for-7 on the day with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. SJU closes out is series with Fordham at noon on Sunday. If the Hawks win and UMass defeats Dayton, there will be a three-way tie between SJU, Dayton and the loser of the Temple-Rhode Island game for third place in the A-10 standings.