Alfred, Fisher and Stevens Sweep Competition
Saxons Take Over E8 Lead
ALFRED v ITHACA
The Alfred University softball team blasted five homeruns in a doubleheader sweep of visiting Empire 8 Conference rival Ithaca Sunday afternoon at Harrington Field.
AU won the opener, 11-3 in five innings, then took the second game, 10-5, to run its winning streak to 12 games and complete the first-ever doubleheader sweep of Ithaca in program history. AU improves to 18-2 overall. With a 4-0 Empire 8 mark, Alfred moves to the top of the league standings.
In the opener, Alfred took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third when sophomore shortstop
Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) tripled to score junior outfielder
Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay) then scored on a wild pitch.
Ithaca (8-10, 4-2 E8) scored three off Saxon senior starter
Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) in the top of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead, but AU responded in a big way in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded and two outs, junior second baseman
Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) was hit by a pitch to force in the tying run. Wickwire followed with a grand slam, her fourth homerun in three games, and the Saxons led 7-3. Junior catcher
Nora Passuite (Lockport, NY/Lockport) was hit by a pitch and sophomore
Sophia Chiavatti (Austin, CA/Foothills) brought her home with a double to put Alfred up 8-3.
After holding Ithaca scoreless in the top of the fifth, AU plated three in the bottom of the frame to go up 11-3 and give the Saxons the eight-run rule win. Freshman outfielder
Shannon Schaefer led off with a homerun and two batters later, Thompson blasted a homerun to dead center to give AU the walk-off win.
Thompson finished 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs and Wickwire was 1-for-2 with a run scored and four driven in. Chiavatti and Schaefer each had two hits and an RBI.
Wickwire improved to 7-1 the year, allowing three earned runs on three hits and striking out four.
In the second game, AU jumped on the Bombers early, scoring four in the first on a one-out grand slam by junior catcher
Jasmine Picini . In the third, AU scored on an error before Passuite hit a two-out RBI single to give the Saxons a 6-0 lead and Torchia followed with a three-run homerun to left-center and the Saxons led 9-9.
Ithaca scored a run in the fourth to make it 9-1 but AU got the run back in the bottom of the frame when Passuite walked with the bases loaded. Ithaca tallied a pair of unearned runs in the fifth and sixth innings to close out the scoring.
Freshman pitcher
Kerri Keeler got the complete-game win for AU, improving to 5-0 on the season. She allowed five runs (four unearned) on nine hits while striking out three.
Torchia was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs and Picini scored a run and drove in four. Jauregui finished with two hits and scored a pair of runs; Passuite scored a run and drove in two; Passuite had two RBIs, and senior outfielder
Alyson Hampton drove in a run.
ST. JOHN FISHER v ELMIRA
The St. John Fisher College softball team swept visiting Elmira College on Sunday, 8-5 and 3-0, as the Cardinals celebrated Senior Day. With the wins, the Cardinals improve to 17-5 overall and 3-1 in Empire 8 play.
Lindsey Thayer tallied 30 strikeouts – 15 in each game – over 12.0 innings from the circle. The freshman pitcher improves to 10-3 on the year with an impressive 0.73 ERA. It is Thayer's first no-hitter and the program's first since 2004 when Amanda Herberger recorded a perfect game.
Fisher 8, Elmira 0 (5 inn)
The Cardinals put together a six-run second inning to fuel the offense. Jessica Smyrski got things going with a double to right center.
Kristina Balsano put runners on first and second with a single to left field. Smyrski later scored on a wild pitch and a
Katie Mazierski single to the shortstop.
Meghan Burns brought in three runs on a longball over the left-center field fence.
Emma Savas bunted for a single then stole second and rounded out the scoring for the inning on a
Karlie Neale single to left field.
Fisher earned the deciding run in the third inning when Balsano scored on an error by the Elmira catcher.
Thayer relinquished just one walk in a complete-game effort.
Fisher 3, Elmira 0
Fisher jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning and didn't look back, recording the sweep in the nightcap.
Mazierski singled on a bunt to start the Cardinals' offense and moved over to second on a
Jennifer Knaak sacrifice bunt. Burns stayed hot, singling up the middle to bring in Mazierski. Burns later scored when Savas singled to left field. The freshman made it all the way to third base on a fielding error by the left fielder.
The Soaring Eagles had their chance in the fourth inning to cash in. Emily Carlin hit a flyball that dropped in front of center fielder Knaak for a single. Elmira put runners on first and second with two outs when Chelsea Storch laid down a bunt that stopped directly on the third baseline. Thayer closed the inning with a strikeout, however.
Fisher earned an insurance run in the third inning when Knaak tripled to right field – her second of the afternoon – and the junior scored on a
Lauren Owens single to left field.
Thayer allowed just four hits and didn't record a single walk in the win.
On the day, Savas led the offense, going 4-for-5 with one run and one RBI. Mazierski finished 4-for-6 with two runs and one RBI.
STEVENS v NAZARETH
Stevens Institute of Technology senior pitcher
Kayla Berardi pitched all 14 innings for the Ducks Sunday in 5-0 and 3-2 wins over Nazareth College.
The sweep moved Stevens to 15-6-1 (3-3) while Naz fell to 9-7 (2-2).
Stevens 5, Nazareth 0
The Ducks got on the board early in the first when sophomore
Jessica Rees reached on an error at short to score junior
Sydney Spitz. Berardi held the lead with a scoreless first and second, allowing the Ducks to add to the lead in the third.
With Spitz on first and senior
Jamie DeGennaro on second, Rees belted a home run to left center to extend the lead to four. The blast was the fourth in the last five games for the Florida native, and ties the single season program record of five.
A bases loaded walk by Spitz in the fourth brought the lead to five which was plenty for Berardi who worked around a one out double in the fourth before retiring the side in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh, including six strikeouts to close out the game.
Rees continued her torrid hitting with three RBIs while Berardi struck out 11 to run her scoreless streak to 16 straight innings.
Stevens 3, Nazareth 2
Stevens grabbed an early lead in the first when a Spitz sacrifice bunt was mishandled by Naz allowing junior
Gavriella Risman-Jones to score.
Berardi held the lead with shutout innings in the first and second, giving way to another Stevens run in the third off an RBI single from DeGennaro.
Naz tied the game with two in their half of the third, but sophomore
Emily Sellitti quickly grabbed the lead back with an RBI single in the fourth to score freshman
Lauren Shirley.
The lead was enough for Berardi who allowed just two base runners over the final three innings to seal her team leading eighth win of the season.
|
SCHOOL |
CONF |
OVERALL |
|
Alfred |
4-0 |
18-2 |
|
St. John Fisher |
3-1 |
17-5 |
|
Ithaca |
4-2 |
8-10 |
|
Stevens |
3-3 |
15-6-1 |
|
Nazareth |
2-2 |
9-7 |
|
Utica |
2-2 |
10-8 |
|
Elmira |
0-4 |
0-4 |
|
Houghton |
0-4 |
2-17 |