Saxons Score Five Runs in Bottom of 7th to Win, 9-8
Alex Picini hit a two run RBI double in bottom of the seventh.

Saxons Score Five Runs in Bottom of 7th to Win, 9-8

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The Alfred University softball team scored five times in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally past Utica, 9-8, Saturday afternoon and avoid elimination at the Empire 8 Conference championship tournament.

AU (27-8) will face top-seeded host team Ithaca this afternoon. If the Saxons defeat the Bombers today, the two teams will meet again Sunday afternoon in a winner-take-all elimination game for the conference crown and a berth in the NCAA Division III championship tournament.

With AU trailing 8-4 in the bottom off the seventh against Utica, freshman third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) singled and sophomore second baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) followed with a walk. Junior Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) doubled to score Thompson and Torchia to draw AU within two.
 
A single by sophomore shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) moved Wickwire to third before sophomore Jasmine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) belted a two-run double to tie the game at 8-8. A groundout moved Picini to third and she scored the winning run on a wild pitch.
 
Things didn't go well for the Saxons early, as Utica jumped on starting pitcher Wickwire for three runs in the top of the first. The Saxons got on the board with a run in the third, when sophomore pitcher Katelyn Jakobsen (Elmwood Park, IL/Elmwood Park) scored on a wild pitch. Utica scored a run in the fourth and AU answered with a run in the bottom of the frame. Maher hit a one-out triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Picini to make it 4-2.
 
Utica plated two runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead, but AU got them right back in the bottom of the frame on a two-run Thompson homerun. After a scoreless sixth, Utica scored twice in the top of the seventh to go up 8-4, setting stage for the Saxons' dramatic last-inning rally.
 
Wickwire hit two doubles, scored a run and two driven in and Picini was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Maher had three hits in four at-bats and scored a run and Thompson was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, two runs and two RBIs.
 
Wickwire lasted one inning, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits. Jakobsen relieved and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out three of 3 1/3 innings. Freshman Sophia Chiavatti (Austin, CA/Foothills) allowed two earned runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings before junior Tori Kramp (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury), the eventual winner, got the final out of the seventh.