March 25, 2008

Staten Island, NY - The Wagner Seahawk softball team, fresh off a 13-game Florida road swing at the Rebel Games in Kissimmee where they went 8-5 last week, will face-off against the Fordham University Rams (10-17, 2-2 Atlantic 10) Thursday afternoon for a twilight doubleheader at the Lower Athletic Fields located just up the hill on the right from the intersection of Howard Avenue and Clove Road. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.

The Seahawks (8-9, 0-0 NEC) will look to get above and beyond the .500-mark in Thursday's set of games as they finished just one short after a loss in their last contest of the Rebel Games on Saturday afternoon to the Big Red of Cornell, 8-6.

Coming into the games Head Coach Glen Payne and company will be boasting some hot performers of late. Both the Northeast Conference's Pitcher and Rookie of the Week will be sporting the Green & White, as freshman pitcher Heather Ochoa (Los Angeles, CA/Notre Dame) earned the honor by picking up three victories last week in central Florida going 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA and 17 strikeouts. Sophomore Kate Eshelman (Reno, NV/McQueen) was named the NEC's top hurler for the week for the fourth-time in her young career by first shutting out Lafayette College 11-0 and then blanking another foe a day later, this time Siena College, 4-0 on four hits.

Perhaps even more impressive than the accolades of the Seahawk pitching staff is the Seahawk lineup, which as of Wednesday's games has the top three hitters (average-wise) in the Northeast Conference with senior catcher Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) heading the class hitting .426 with two homers and 14 RBI, followed by Wagner's all-time hits leader, senior shortstop Katie Stevens (Reno, NV/Wooster) at .413 with a .518 on-base-percentage, and senior rightfielder Ami Iwicki (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) rounding out the trio at .409. The senior New Jersey native is just five doubles away from becoming the all-time Wagner leader in that category with four, currently on the season, tied with Batistelli for the team lead.

On the visitor's side, it will be the Rams - lead by seventh-year head coach Bridget Orchard - who will look to keep the Seahawk attack in check and extend a two-game winning streak on Grymes Hill, just like they did last year on the same date when they bested Wagner 4-1 and 4-2 respectively at home on the Bronx's Rose Hill.

This season Fordham is lead by freshman sensation Jocelyn Dearborn who has already hit four homeruns and driven in 26 runs while batting an impressive .329 at the plate. On the hill the Rams look to another rookie, freshman Beckah Wiggins (3-5) most of the time and she's proven to be solid thus far. In 2008 she's posted a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts (19 appearances) while striking out a grand total of 39 and walking 21. She's also held opposing batters to a batting average of .266.