The Rams struck out in their first A-10 road trip of the season at Fordham. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island Softball team fell short in their first Atlantic 10 road trip of the year, dropping each of their three games against Fordham University this past weekend to move to 1-7 in conference play and 5-19 overall.
Despite the recent skid, Head Coach Whitney Goldstein says her team continues to focus towards building up the program long-term to compete with the top teams in the conference.
“Ultimately, in order for us to build the brand and the success we want long term, we’re going to have to take some gut punches right now,” Goldstein said.
Rhody suffered their worst blow of the series in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, finding themselves on the wrong end of a 9-0 shutout. The Rams of Fordham held control the entire way, limiting URI to just three hits in five innings of play.
Game 2 was a completely different story for the Rhode Island Rams. Rhody kept Fordham within reach for the majority of the contest, tying it up at two runs apiece at the top of the seventh inning. After a RBI single by Maddie Melice in the sixth led to a run for sophomore Ainsley Yoshizumi, Rachel Zingerman picked up an RBI single of her own an inning later to send Leilyn Alvarez home and tie the game.
Fordham got the last laugh, however, as the home Rams hit a walkoff home run at the bottom of the seventh to secure their second win of the afternoon 3-2.
Goldstein says her team’s determination has been a constant all season long, regardless of the result.
“The one thing you can count on from us is always to have grit,” she said. “They care very much about how they do and how they compete, and I think that’s a very positive thing to have amongst the team. They’re not the type of team that just quits.”
After Rhody’s response in Game 2, it was all Fordham in the third and final game of the series on Sunday. After trailing 5-0 through three innings, URI got on the board with a solo home run by senior captain Ari Castillo, her third of the season. But the scoring stopped there, as Fordham picked up three more runs and held on to win 8-1.
Being able to compete with “powerhouse” teams like Fordham, Castillo said, is crucial to the team’s success both this season and beyond.
“Our biggest thing that we’re taking away from each of these conference series is that we have to find ways to get better,” she said. “The biggest thing is just trying to compete with these teams and staying with them.”
Rhody’s trip to the Bronx also marked Goldstein’s first A-10 road trip since her days as a player at Massachusetts. Even years later, she was impressed with the sustained culture surrounding Fordham softball and how similar it felt to her time with the Minutewomen — something that she hopes can be translated over to her program back in Kingston.
“I was using that as a reference to our players,” Goldstein said. “I think the biggest thing that we always had when I played, and I’m just always trying to continue to instill is, there has to be an excitement. There has to be a contagiously upbeat environment.”
Up next for Rhody is a three-game series this weekend on the road against Saint Louis. The Rams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. before closing out the action on Sunday at 1 p.m.