May 8, 2009
Box Score
BRONX, N.Y.--The Saint Joseph's softball team exacted some revenge on Friday, defeating the host Fordham Rams, 7-3, in Atlantic 10 Championship play. SJU used a six-run third inning in order to advance to Friday afternoon's elimination game against third-seeded Saint Louis.
After both teams put up a pair of scoreless frames on the board to start off, Saint Joseph's (25-19) exploded in the top of the third as Monica Aguilar's single with the bases loaded brought home Laura Cardone and Bernadette Moran for a 2-0 lead.
Brooke Dareff then hit the next pitch for a single driving home Dana Bieniek and moving Aguilar to third. After an Erika Rosenwinkel RBI ground out, Dani Gonzales stepped to the plate with Dareff on second and two outs. Gonzales proceeded to put a first pitch fastball over the left field wall for what would turn out to be an insurmountable 6-0 lead.
Fordam scraped together a run in the bottom of the fifth but SJU quickly responded in the sixth as Gonzales doubled to center field and Sarah Falk pinch ran for the pitcher. A Beka Shumock ground out to short moved Falk to third before a passed ball brought her home for a 7-1 Saint Joseph's advantage.
The Rams mounted a serious rally in the bottom of the sixth tagging Gonzales with a triple, a single and a stolen base for runners on second and third and just one out. A single to right field scored two Fordham runners, but Gonzales worked her way out of the jam with two ground outs and SJU leading 7-3.
The Hawks and Rams went down in order on the seventh as Gonzales won her 14th game of the season, pitching seven innings while giving up five hits, three runs with three strike outs. Gonzales was 2-for-3 at the plate with a homer and two RBIs.
Moran went 2-for-3 with a run scored batting ninth in the order, while Aguilar ended her day at the plate with a hit, a run, and two runs batted in.
The fifth-seeded Hawks move on to play third-seeded Saint Louis at 3:00 p.m. Friday in another elimination game. SJU is 2-0 in elimination games this tournament after dropping the first game of the tournament to Fordham on Wednesday. SLU lost to Charlotte, 3-2, in eight innings on Thursday night. The winner of the SJU-SLU game plays the loser of the Massachusetts-Charlotte game, slated for 1:00 p.m. Friday.
