Fisher Sweeps Pitt-Bradford; Alfred Sweeps RIT
The St. John Fisher College softball program picked up two wins over visiting University of Pittsburgh-Bradford on Monday afternoon. With the two wins, Fisher improves to 14-8 overall and will host Houghton College at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
Game One – Fisher 8, Pitt-Bradford 0
The Cardinals scored runs in every inning except the first to defeat the Panthers 8—0 in a mercy-rule, six-inning game.
Kaylee Tallman led the way going 2-for-2 with three RBI and a run scored. Two of the runs she drove in came on a two-out bomb to left field with Leanne Merchant on first base. Merchant led off the inning was a single and Tallman did not allow the runner to be wasted.
Sarah Fordyce was also 2-for-2 in the game with a double, while Merchant finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Meghan Burns was the other Cardinal to have a multiple-hit game, cashing in a single and double while crossing the plate once.
Kate Disbrow and Krista Robarge each finished with a hit and a RBI while Hannah Freyer also drove in a score.
Lauren Wesolowski scattered six hits in the shutout-win, raising her record to 3-0 on the year.
Game Two - Fisher 6, Pitt-Bradford 3
Fisher took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on solo home run from Jennifer Knaak - the first of her career, but the Panthers scored three in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead.
The Cardinals, however, would answer with a five-run fifth inning. Disbrow led off the inning with a slap single and Burns reached on an error. Kayla Goodberlet was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Merchant made it 3-2 with an RBI-single to left. Fordyce then gave Fisher the lead for good with a two-run run double. Lindsey Holtz and Tallman each added RBIs in the inning.
Sarah Stefanon recorded her seventh win of the season in relief. The senior allowed one hit in 4.0 innings of scoreless ball with seven strikeouts.
ALFRED v RIT
The Alfred University softball team swept a non-league doubleheader from visiting RIT Monday afternoon at Hornell High School. The Saxons won the opener, 3-1, and took the second game, 5-2, to improve to 10-10 on the season.
The first five innings of the opener were scoreless until RIT plated a run in the sixth. Alfred responded with three in the home half of the inning, then blanked the Tigers in the seventh. Freshman shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) (sacrifice fly); freshman third baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.); (single) and freshman leftfielder Jasmine Picini (Arlington, VA/West Potomac) (double) each drove in a run for the Saxons.
Sophomore pitcher Jessica O’Sullivan (Habersham, SC/Groton-Dunstable (MA) Regional)went the distance for the Saxons to improve to 5-1 on the season. She allowed an earned run on six hits and struck out five. Torchia was 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI; junior outfielderSamijo Scheer (Corning, NY/Corning East) had a hit and scored a run; and freshman Katelyn Jakobsen (Elmwood Park, IL/Elmwood Park) scored a run.
Jakobsen got the pitching win in the second game, allowing one run on three hits while striking out a pair in five innings of work to improve to 2-3. Sophomore Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) tossed two innings – allowing an earned run in the seventh – to earn the save.
Alfred again fell behind briefly – allowing a run in the second – before taking the lead with single runs in the second and third innings. Junior rightfielder Stephanie Arguello (Placentia, CA/Vista del Lago) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the second and Torchia scored on an RIT error in the third.
The Saxons added three insurance runs in the fifth, all coming when freshman Mackenzie Miller (Newport, OR/Newport) smacked a bases-loaded triple. Miller, hitting in the ninth spot, was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, coming up homerun short of the cycle.
Picini was 2-for-3; Maher was 2-for-4; Torchia and Picini each scored once; and freshman second baseman Patricia Burdick (Lockport, NY/Lockport) scored two runs.
Alfred plays two Empire 8 road doubleheaders this weekend – Friday (April 12) at 3 p.m. at Elmira and Saturday (April 13) at 1 p.m. at Stevens – before returning home to face Penn College in a 1 p.m. non-league doubleheader Sunday, April 14. The Penn College twinbill – a make-up of games originally scheduled for March 24 -- will be the first played on Alfred’s new on-campus field.