Wednesday Feb

Brooklyn Nets Headline Star-Studded Trade Deadline

By THOMAS AIELLO

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Fordham Softball began their 2022 season in the desert at the Grand Canyon Kickoff Classic, which began Friday with a double header matinee against Grand Canyon University (GCU) and Weber State. Junior Devon Miller took center circle for the Rams against fifth year senior Arissa Henderson for the Weber State Wildcats.

It took Weber State just two thirds of an inning to get to Miller, when the Fordham star allowed a solo home run to fifth year Chloe Camarero, pushing the Wildcats out to an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the second, Miller gave up another rocket, this time to senior Lauren Hoe to push Weber State out 2-0.

The Rams would show some life, but it would be the only production they would manufacture in the entire contest; graduate student Briana Pinto drove in sophomore Bella Ayala with an RBI single up the middle.

As Miller took the circle in the top of the fifth, Camarero struck again with a two-run blast pushing the lead to 4-1. Henderson would add an RBI double off senior Makenzie McGrath to add to her complete game in the circle. Henderson’s final line was 10 strikeouts and three walks, retiring 26 of the 31 batters she faced to go along with only one earned run.

Miller would finish the first game going five and two thirds innings with four earned runs, five punchouts and four walks.

Game two of the matinee against Grand Canyon University saw sophomore Bailey Enoch take the start against sophomore Jacie Hambrick. Like Weber State, GCU struck early as they scored five runs in the first inning. The Rams showed some life as Enoch provided her own run support in the second inning, with freshman Sydney Wells slicing a single which drove in Enoch and the first run of the game for Fordham.

In the third, Enoch would show off her two way prowess with an RBI single that sent Pinto in to score the second run of the game. Enoch would finish with two hits, a run scored and one run driven in.

Grand Canyon would tack on five more runs in the game, generating 10 runs on 11 hits total enroute to a 10-2 victory for GCU. Graduate student Denae Chatman would drive in three RBI’s, while sophomore Katelyn Dunckel and graduate student Stephanie Reed would drive in two runs a piece.

Enoch went four and two thirds innings, giving up nine earned runs and walking five batters with no strikeouts in the five inning 10-2 loss. Hambrick went three innings of two run ball while punching out three batters and walking one. Sophomore Kaila Eastburn came in to pitch the final two innings where she struck out three, allowed one hit and walked none.

On Saturday, the Rams broke the dry spell and notched their first win of the season, enacting revenge against Weber State with a 4-1 victory.

Senior gunslinger McGrath went the distance in this game; going seven innings and allowing four hits and one earned run. McGrath also struck out two and walked three after facing 28 batters.

McGrath received some help from the Fordham bats, as Enoch knocked in Pinto in the first inning to push the Rams out 1-0 early against the aforementioned Henderson. In the fourth inning, Pinto won the game with one swing of the bat. She knocked in a three run double that included junior Amanda Carey, graduate student Kelly Bright and freshman Allie Clark all crossing home plate to push Fordham out 4-0.

Weber State would get one run in via a double from Faith Hoe, but that would be the only run of this rematch that the Wildcats would produce.

The penultimate and second game of the Saturday double header, would be against a Big 12 opponent the Kansas Jayhawks. Miller would take the circle for her second game in the Grand Canyon Kickoff Classic. Miller faced off against freshman Olivia Bruno of the Jayhawks.

Once again, the Jayhawks struck early from above with a three-run second inning. Sophomore Lyric Moore knocked in Bruno to make it 1-0. Then, with three runners on, senior Cheyenne Hornbuckle took off for home plate on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. Junior Haleigh Harper had a sacrifice bunt to drive in Moore to make it 3-0 in the second.

After a scoreless third, Fordham got on the board with a tworun home run by Enoch which drove in senior Gigi Speer. That single swing put the Rams right back in the contest 3-2 in the fourth inning.

But Kansas would come roaring back with a homerun by Bruno in the fifth inning, providing her own run support. The Jayhawks also received help from an RBI single by fifth year senior Shelby Gayre and a sacrifice groundout from Hornbuckle to drive in run number six.

Bruno on the mound tossed six innings and two strikeouts, with her lone hit being the Enoch two-run blast. Sophomore Savanna DeRochers came in to pitch the final inning of the game and close out the 6-2 Jayhawks win.

Miller went the distance for the Rams, tossing seven innings, striking out eight, allowing five earned runs and walking two batters.

The Rams, in the final game of the tournament, would end on a high note, with a 3-2 victory over Northern Colorado Bears. Enoch took center circle once again for the Rams, while Northern Colorado sent junior Erin Caviness to start the game.

Fordham’s offense exploded in a big way, getting help from graduate student Rachel Hubertus’ RBI single that scored junior Michaela Carter in the third inning. Following her round trip, Carter took matters into her own hands with a solo home run in the fourth to make it 2-0 Fordham.

The Northern Colorado Bears would storm back with their own run support, with freshman Peyton Gale reaching home on a fielder’s choice in the fifth. Then in the sixth, the Bears manufactured another run through a groundout that knocked in junior Jayden Gandert to tie it up at two.

Finally in the top of the seventh, Carter willed the Rams to victory with her walk off homerun to secure the 3-2 victory for the Rams. That’s not bad timing for Carter’s first career home run at Fordham.

Fordham started their season off 2-3 at the Grand Canyon Kickoff Classic, and while it took them a little bit to wring out the sponge, the Rams found themselves a bit in the games against Weber State and Northern Colorado. Playing such competition in a tournament like this will only benefit the Rams come the regular season.

Their next trip will be to Conway, South Carolina for the Battle at the Beach where the Rams will take on the University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina and Marshall University next weekend and look to improve upon their 2-3 start to the 2022 season.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS Sophomore Bailey Enoch was wreaking havoc from both the batter's box and the pitcher's circle this weekend.

By BRETT TULIP

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This past Thursday, the yearly NBA trade deadline went down and did not disappoint. Many teams across the league were very eager and hopeful to improve their rosters, with many trades occurring that are sure to have plenty of impact. Although there was an abundance of trades, four specifically had major significance and could shake up the league for years to come.

There is no other place to start but with the Brooklyn Nets, who traded away superstar guard James Harden and reserve forward Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for 25-year-old three-time All-Star Ben Simmons, sharpshooter Seth Curry, four-time rebound leader Andre Drummond and two firstround picks.

With rumors regarding Harden wanting to leave the Nets, and comments from Simmons himself openly saying he wanted to leave the 76ers, this trade benefits both sides. Brooklyn gets a third star that could have a more natural fit than Harden, as Simmons is much more of a twoway player, being an absolutely elite defender who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in the 2020-21 season. The Nets will also receive Curry, who will help improve their spacing with his lethal three-point ability and Drummond who can be the serviceable big man that the Nets were sorely lacking. For Philadelphia, Harden hopes to improve from the slight slump he had experienced with Brooklyn and help the 76ers with their championship dreams playing alongside one of the MVP frontrunners in Joel Embiid.

The next seismic trade that occurred involved two-time All-Star center Domantas Sabonis being sent from the Indiana Pacers along with Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a second-round pick to Sacramento for emerging star guard Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson. This trade came as a shock to most NBA fans-despite the Pacers having intentions to trade Sabonis, the Kings trading the up-andcoming guard Haliburton was not expected to happen at all.

However, in the short run, this trade will likely benefit both sides. Sacramento gets another star in Sabonis to pair with their point guard of the future, De'Aaron Fox. Sabonis will help elevate the team with his consistent scoring and great passing. They will look to make a playoff push this season. For the Pacers, they get a highly efficient young point guard in Haliburton, and Hield who has been a great shooter for the majority of his career. The Pacers will look to develop Haliburton in the future and see if he can turn into an All-Star that could raise the overall ceiling of the team higher than Sabonis ever could.

Another major acquisition includes a former New York Knicks and Mavericks All-Star Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick being traded to the Wizards for point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and wing Davis Bertans. This is a curious trade for Dallas, as they trade away Porzingis, someone who hasn’t lived up to expectations, yet was still playing fine enough for the team to have been winning. In return, they get two struggling players that have both played much better at other points in their careers. In the case of Dinwiddie, while he is talented, is inconsistent. Meanwhile, Bertans is on a large contract and has underperformed in his greatest skill, shooting, while being below average on the defensive end.

Dallas will look to revitalize these two players’ careers as they continue to build around superstar Luka Doncic. As for the Wizards, they receive a talented big man that will likely play center and try to provide more scoring for a team on the fringe of the play-in-tournament and missing their best player, Bradley Beal.

The last major transaction regarded the Portland Trail Blazers trading away longtime complementary star CJ McCollum, while also giving up Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell for a package that includes Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Didi Louzada, a first-round pick and two second-round picks. This move signals the end of an era for Portland, as it finally decided to break up the talented yet underachieving backcourt of Damian Lillard and McCollum. The two players appeared to reach their ceilings in what they could accomplish together, as they always fell short of an NBA Finals appearance. The Blazers traded one good player for a collection of assets that can help them build around Lillard and better prepare them for the future. For the Pelicans, the move is obvious. They need to get more talent to add to a roster that simply needs more good players to compete once Zion Williamson eventually returns from his injury.

Each and every trade that occurred over the past week will definitely have future ramifications on the NBA's standings, yet only time will reveal the true winners and losers of the 2022 trade deadline.