AU softball team moves to 5-1 with Wednesday sweep in Arizona
Mark Whitehouse
TUSCON, AZ – The Alfred University softball won two games Wednesday on the third of the Saxons' Spring Break trip to Tuscon, AZ. AU avenged its lone defeat of the season by edging Baldwin Wallace, 4-3 in eight innings, then beating Presentation College, 5-1.
In the win against Baldwin Wallace, AU broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the eighth inning when freshman
Hannah Lawrence (Spencer, NY/Spencer-Van Etten) scored from third on a one-out groundout by sophomore leftfielder
Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay). After Baldwin Wallace put runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the frame, sophomore pitcher
Katelyn Jakobsen (Elmwood Park, IL/Elmwood Park) struck out two and ended the on a pop-out to third.
Jakobsen got the win in relief of junior starter
Tori Kramp (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) who allowed three runs, all unearned , on seven hits while striking out five over seven innings.
AU scored a run in the first when sophomore shortstop
Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) drove in sophomore second baseman
Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) from second with a two-out single. The Saxons took a 3-0 lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. Torchia's sacrifice fly to right with no outs scored senior rightfielder
Rachel Guszick (Sparrowbush, NY/Port Jervis) from third, and senior centerfielder
Samijo Scheer (Corning, NY/Corning East) followed with a double to score Jauregui from second.
Baldwin Wallace responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-1. The Yellowjackets loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth and with two outs scored a pair of unearned runs on an AU error to tie the game at 3-3.
Maher went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Scheer and Jauregui each finished with two hits and a run driven in as the Saxons pounded out nine hits. Torchia, junior
Alyson Hampton (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) and senior
Stephanie Arguello (Placentia, CA/Vista del Lago) each stole a base.
In the win against Presentation College, Scheer drove in two runs and scored once, sophomore
Mackenzie Miller (Newport, OR/Newport) hit a homerun, and junior
Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) pitched seven strong innings to complete the day's sweep for the Saxons.
AU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Torchia scored from third on an error. After Presentation tied the game with a run in the bottom of the frame, AU regained a one-run advantage with a single run in the third, as Torchia's single plated Scheer from third.
Scheer's two-run single in the fourth scored Hampton from third and freshman
Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) from second to give the Saxons a 4-1 lead and Miller closed out the scoring with a one-out solo homerun in the seventh.
Wickwire allowed one unearned run on six hits and struck out five to improve to 3-0.
AU plays a pair of games Thursday: at 3:30 p.m. against Dickinson College and 6 p.m. against Mount Marty College.