The Saint Louis University Billikens won their softball series against the Fordham Rams this weekend, 2-1. The Billikens moved to a 2-4 Atlantic 10 record for sixth in the standings.
The weekend started strong on Friday evening March 21, with the Billikens routing the Rams 10-2 in six innings. Saturday afternoon featured a doubleheader, with the teams splitting the day. SLU took the first game in a six-run shutout while Fordham gathered a consolation win, achieving a 6-1 victory later in the day.
The series win comes a week after SLU was swept at Dayton, all losses by 4 runs or more, including a shutout.
Junior shortstop Chloe Rhine commented on how the series win improved the team’s mood going forward.
“We definitely took a sucker punch getting swept by Dayton, but I think the team did a really nice job just coming back. A lot of conference games left. Definitely on the up,” Rhine said.
Rhine held a 1.000 fielding percentage through the series. She has a .962 on the season, up from .935 last season. Over the series, she had 10 catches, 5 putouts and 5 assists.
Junior catcher Abby Mallo, one of the A-10’s best hitters, saw 9 at-bats over the series. Mallo delivered 3 RBIs and was struck out twice. She is tenth in the conference in batting average and second in the conference in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage.
“Abby’s a great teammate, great bat all along. Playing alongside her is just awesome, since she is one of the girls from my class. Definitely a really big impact on the lineup,” Rhine said of Mallo after the third game.
Junior Taylor Hochman pitched all 7 innings of Saturday’s first game, where the Rams failed to score a single run. Hochman had five strikeouts that game. She is fourth in the A-10 in earned run average (ERA) and the only member of the top 20 with more than 80 innings pitched.
“I definitely think having a big senior leader on the mound this year is just really awesome. She is one of the faces [of] the A-10,” Rhine said on what it’s like to share the infield with Hochman.
The Billikens’ next series will be against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in Philadelphia on March 29- 30.