Fisher and Ithaca Win Two; Utica/Alfred and Elmira/Nazareth Split Series
St. John Fisher 8, Stevens 0 - Game One
St. John Fisher 8, Stevens 0 - Game Two
The St. John Fisher College softball team kept it bats hot on Saturday, as the Cardinals opened Empire 8 play with consecutive 8-0 shutouts over Stevens Institute of Technology. Fisher won Saturday’s first meeting in five innings, while the second game took just one more, finishing in six. The Cardinals are now 10-7 on the season and 2-0 in the conference. Stevens falls to 2-17, 0-4.
The Cardinals took game one in spectacular fashion, crossing the plate eight times in the fifth inning. More impressively, the team was able to pick up the mercy-rule win by posting all eight runs with two outs on the board.
The Cardinals posted six of their 10 hits in the inning. Danielle Leone pitched all five innings for Fisher, striking out four and walking zero in the shutout.
It didn’t take as long for the Cardinals to get on the scoreboard in game two. The lead-off batter reached successfully and a triple to right center by Kayla Goodberlet scored the runner in the opening inning.
Fisher added to that lead in the third on a two RBI homer over the center field wall before an RBI single making it 4-0 after the fourth inning.
The home team hoped to end the game in five innings again, but could only muster three runs in the fifth, forcing a sixth to be played. However, it didn’t take long for that run to come as Meghan Burns led off with a hit and Jessie Smyrski doubled her in for the walk-off.
Sarah Stefanon earned her fourth-straight win from the circle, striking out 11 of 25 batters faced.
Ithaca 11, Houghton 0 - Game One
Ithaca 11, Houghton 0 - Game Two
The Ithaca College softball team swept a doubleheader against Houghton on Saturday afternoon at Kostrinsky Field. The Bombers won both games by scores of 11-0, and each game was shortened to five innings due to scoring margin.
In the first game, Ithaca seized control with six runs in the top of the first inning. It appeared that the Highlanders retired the Bombers without allowing any runs after a double play, but the Houghton pitcher was wearing a uniform number that didn't match the number indicated on the lineup card and the double-play pitch was vacated. Given another chance, the Bombers pushed across six runs and never looked back.
In the second game, Ithaca did most of its damage in the second inning, when the Bombers scored eight times on six hits. Jennifer Biondi led the offense once again with two hits, both doubles, and she drove in four runs and scored twice. Rachel Dell-Orto also had two hits, drove in a run and scored once. Ithaca had nine hits in the game.
Utica 11, Alfred 0 - Game One
UC carried over its momentum from Friday as it picked up its third straight win and first conference victory of the season. The Pioneers exploded for 15 hits and junior Meghan Matan had a season-best performance going 4-for-5 with five RBI.
Both pitchers held each team scoreless after three innings until Alysa Russell was able to break the deadlock with her solo shot to lead off the fourth. UC added five runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to ensure the victory.
Freshman Abby Monroe struck out seven and allowed just five hits in her second straight shutout.
Alfred 6, Utica 5 - Game Two
The first three innings were scoreless before Utica tallied a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead. AU cut the deficit in half with a pair in the bottom of the fifth. Alfred freshman Nora Passuite stroked a two-out double that plated freshman pinch hitter Mackenzie Miller and Samijo Scheer.
Utica pushed its lead back to three with a run in the sixth before AU rallied in the home half of the frame. Freshman shortstop Nicole Maher walked and came around to score on a two-out single by senior catcher Hana Gross. Scheer then homered over the left-center fence on the first pitch she saw and the game was tied.
Utica put runners on first and third with no outs in the seventh, but AU freshman Katelyn Jakobsen got out of the jam with a shallow fly-out to left, a strikeout and another fly-out to left. In the bottom of the seventh, junior rightfielder Stephanie Aguello led off with a single and moved to second when Passuite walked. Both runners moved up a base on a sacrifice and after Jakobsen struck out, Maher hit a fly down the right field line that was dropped, allowing Arguello to cross the plate with the winning run.
Elmira 2, Nazareth - Game One
The Elmira College Softball team split games with the Nazareth College Golden Flyers, 2-0 and 9-4, Saturday afternoon ending their win streak at nine games.
Although the Soaring Eagles were able to get several hits during game one, they would not be able to score until the top of the sixth and seventh innings to secure their ninth victory in a row. Alex Puglisi earned her sixth consecutive victory on the mound pitching seven innings giving up three hits and striking out 15 batters. Alex Andrade and Puglisi hit well from behind the plate earning two hits.
Nazareth 9, Elmira 4 - Game Two
In game two, the Golden Flyers scored four runs in the first inning and five runs in the second inning to take a commanding 9-1 advantage. Junior Sarah Cipperly and freshman Carly Pike each knocked in three runs, and juniors Liz Toner and Shauna Bardanis added two RBIs and one RBI, respectively.
Freshman Cydney Luke started the scoring run in the bottom of the first by drawing a lead-off walk. Following a single by freshman Morgan Ross, classmate Maureen Rogers reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. Cipperly followed with an RBI single, which was followed a two-run double by Pike. Toner added a single to score Cipperly. On the following at bat, Pike was thrown out at home as part of a double play to end the Golden Flyers' threat.
In the bottom of the second, Ross and Rogers each had two-out singles to continue the inning. Cipperly connected on double to score Ross and Rogers. Pike followed with another two-out double to score Cipperly. Bardanis followed with a single to score Pike, then Toner hit a triple to the right field wall to score Bardanis. Elmira recorded the third out by forcing Emili Capicchioni into a ground out.
After scoring nine runs on 10 hits on the Soaring Eagles' first two pitchers, Alex Puglisi pitched the final four innings and kept Nazareth to nine runs. The Golden Flyers' offensive attack chased staring pitcher Sarah Johnson before Elmira recorded an out in the first inning. Johnson allowed four runs on three hits and a walk. Katie Hobson entered in relief of Johnson and finished with two innings pitched and allowed five runs on seven hits. Puglisi allowed only one hit in four innings after her dominant performance in game two.