Ithaca Softball Wins Empire 8 Championship
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Ithaca softball team defeated St. John Fisher 2-0 in the championship game of the 2012 Empire 8 Softball Tournament Sunday afternoon at Kostrinsky Field. Ithaca earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. St. John Fisher defeated Ithaca 2-1 in a tournament game earlier Sunday afternoon to force a winner-take-all game to determine the Empire 8 title.
The Bombers won their second Empire 8 tournament title in three years and eighth overall, and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The pairings for the NCAA tournament will be announced during the selection show Monday at 10 a.m. that can be seen live online at ncaa.com.
Ithaca sophomore Julianne Vincent was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman Francesca Busa, junior Jennifer Biondi, sophomore Sam Bender and sophomore Jillian Olmstead. Also selected for the all-tournament team were St. John Fisher's Carissa Carlson, Sarah Stefanon and Kelly Jones, Alfred's Alyson Hampton and Angela Netta and Stevens Institute of Technology's Sarah Parker.
Championship Game 2: Ithaca 2, St. John Fisher 0 |
Box Score
The Bombers scored single runs in the first and fifth innings and the sophomore pitching duo of Bender and Olmstead combined for the shutout, limiting the Cardinals to just three hits. Busa went 2-for-4 and scored both of the Bomber runs.
Designated the visiting team for the second straight game, the Bombers grabbed the lead quickly on a two-out RBI single by sophomore first baseman Sydney Folk that scored Busa. Busa, who was inserted into the leadoff spot for the game, reached on a fielding error and moved to third on two groundouts.
The Bombers used a two-out rally to extend the lead to 2-0. Busa started it with a single to center and sophomore left fielder Rachel Dell'Orto singled past the third baseman. Biondi then hit a grounder that went off the second baseman's glove and into right field, allowing Busa to score an insurance run.
Olmstead came on in relief of Bender with two runners on in the bottom of the fifth and got an inning-ending force play. She then worked around a walk in the sixth and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to close it out. Olmstead earned her eighth save of the season, working 2 and a third hitless innings and striking out two. Bender allowed three hits and struck out two in 4 and two-thirds innings to get the win and improve to 16-5.
Championship Game 1: St. John Fisher 2, Ithaca 1 |
Box Score
The top-seeded Ithaca softball team (29-12) fell to second-seeded St. John Fisher 2-1 in the first game of Sunday’s championship round of the Empire 8 Tournament at Kostrinsky Field.
St. John Fisher (33-11) broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to force the extra game.
The Cardinals got a one-out single followed by an RBI double for the winning run against Ithaca sophomore reliever Jillian Olmstead.
Fisher took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a run off of sophomore starter Sam Bender, who went four-plus innings, allowing five hits and striking out three.
The Bombers tied the game in the top of the fifth. Sophomore second baseman Julianne Vincent hit a leadoff single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman center fielder Monica Capolongo. Vincent then moved to third on a groundout off the bat of junior catcher Lindsey Johnson and scored on an RBI single to left by junior right fielder Adrienne Walters.
Sophomore first baseman Sydney Folk narrowly missed a home run with two outs in the sixth, hitting the fence in center field for a double, but a strikeout ended the inning.
Four Ithaca players each had one hit in the game. Olmstead allowed three hits and struck out three.