Second-Seeded Ithaca Battles Back to Win Empire 8 Softball Championship Title
Alfred, N.Y. -- The softball team (30-13) came through the consolation bracket to beat top-seeded Alfred (34-6) twice Sunday, winning 3-2 and 12-5 to claim the Empire 8 Championship Tournament title and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The Bombers will be home for the NCAA regionals (Kostrinsky Field is one of six predetermined sites for the NCAA Championships). The NCAA tournament field will be announced Monday at noon.
Alfred, ranked 25th nationally, had been the top seed in the tournament. The Bombers (who handed the Saxons three of their six losses on the season) and Alfred tied for the Empire 8 regular-season title and the Saxons earned the top seed on a coin flip.
Senior Alyssa Brook (Monmouth Regional/Tinton Falls, N.J.) was named Empire 8 Tournament MVP after earning the win in Ithaca's first three victories and picking up the save in the title game. She struck out 22 batters in 26 innings, posting a 0.27 ERA.
Ithaca will be making its 23rd appearance in the NCAA playoffs -- the most of any school. The Bombers won four straight at the Empire 8 playoffs after dropping a 2-0 decision in the opening game.
In the first game of Sunday's championship round, which was delayed over 24 hours because of bad weather, Ithaca scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out single by junior second baseman Kait Dolan (Victor/Farmington). Dolan's hit drove in freshman outfielder Jennifer Biondi (Morris Knolls/Denville, N.J.), who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before stealing second and reaching third on a sacrifice bunt.
Brook earned the win with six shutout innings of relief. She allowed four hits and struck out four. Brook worked out of trouble in the seventh when the Saxons loaded the bases with two outs.
The game was suspended Saturday with Alfred batting with two outs in the top of the third inning and the score tied at two.
Ithaca's runs scored in the bottom of the first. Freshman outfielder Molly O’Donnell (Niskayuna/Niskayuna) led off with a double and scored one batter later when junior third baseman Allison Greaney (John F. Kennedy/Iselin, N.J.) reached on a fielder’s choice. Greaney advanced to second on an error and scored on a single by sophomore shortstop Annemarie Forenza (Hunterdon Central/Whitehouse Station, N.J.).
In Sunday's second game Ithac ascored 12 runs over the final four innings. Alfred took a 3-0 lead after three innings, then tied the score at five-all after Ithaca scored twice in the fourth and three times in the fifth.
The Bombers took the lead for good in the top of the sixth when Greaney scored on a groundout, then exploded for six unearned runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. All six runs came with two outs.
Biondi and O'Donnell scored Ithaca's first two runs on one of Alfred's five errors. They drew walks to open the fourth and both scored on a bases-loaded infield error.
A two-run single by Biondi and a run-scoring single by junior Brittany Lillie (Honeoye Falls-Lima/Honeoye Falls) in the fifth put Ithaca up 5-3.
Brook started the game, was replaced by Greaney in the third, then returned to the circle after Ithaca took a 6-5 lead in the top of the sixth. She threw two hitless innings and struck out the side in the seventh.