Saxons end season with sweep of Houghton
ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team ended its regular season Monday with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Houghton College.
The Saxons won the Empire 8 twinbill by scores of 9-1 (five innings) and 8-5. With the sweep, AU improves to 31-3 overall and 13-1 in Empire 8 play, giving the 22
nd-ranked Saxons their first-ever outright regular season conference title.
It was a record-breaking day for the Saxons, as AU sophomore third baseman
Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) set new school marks for runs in a season and triples in a career, while senior
Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) established a new AU career record for homeruns. The 13 conference wins tie the school record set by the 2010 Saxons.
In the opener, AU jumped out to an early lead, plating five in the bottom of the first. Thompson got things going with her 12
th homerun of the year, a one-out solo shot to center. With the homer, Thompson scored her 46
th run of the season, tying the record set in 2010 by Nicole Hedrick. She would later score on an RBI single by Wickwire in the fourth to break the record.
Junior catcher
Jasmine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potmac) had an RBI single, sophomore
Sophia Chiavatti (Tustin, CA/Foothills) drove in a run with a double, and freshman outfielder-pitcher
Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) belted a two-run double in the inning.
Alfred scored another in the third before Houghton scored its lone run of the game in the top of the fourth. AU answered with a pair in the fourth and added another in the bottom of the fifth to go end the contest with the eight-run rule.
Freshman pitcher
Kerri Keeler (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) improved to 12-0 on the season, allowing an earned run on three hits over five innings and striking out eight.
Thompson finished 2-for-3 with three runs; Chiavatti hit two doubles – extending her school single-season record to 19 – and drove in three; and Wickwire went 2-for-2 with a run scored and one RBI.
Houghton threatened to pull off the upset in the nightcap, nearly erasing a five-run AU lead.
After the visiting Highlanders took an early lead with a run in the first, the Saxons built a 6-1 advantage after four innings. The Saxons scored a pair in the second on RBI singles by junior shortstop
Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) and junior first baseman
Julie Canova (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis Academy).
AU added four more in the third, the first coming on Thompson's RBI triple. It was the ninth triple of her career, breaking a tie for the school record she had shared with Hedrick (2009-12) and Liz DeFranco (1994-97). Junior second baseman
Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) hit a run-scoring single ahead of Wickwire's two-run blast to right-center. It was the 24
th homerun of Wickwire's career, breaking the record of 23 held by her and Jesika LeBarron (2007-10).
Houghton (5-28, 2-12 E8) made a game of it with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to draw within a run, at 6-5. Keeler came in with the bases loaded and one out and her team leading 6-4. She allowed one run to score and, after Alfred got two runs in the bottom of the sixth on sacrifice flies by Wickwire and Maher, registered a 1-2-3 seventh for the save.
Schaefer started and earned the win to improve to 6-0 on the year. She allowed three runs (two unearned) on six hits while striking out five before being relieved by Chiavatti with one out in the fifth.
Thompson went 3-for-4 with a pair of triples, two runs and one RBI. Wickwire was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored; Maher (double, run scored, two RBIs) and Torchia (one run, one RBI) each went 2-for-3.
Alfred is the top seed and host of the Empire 8 Conference championship tournament, which opens Friday (May 1) at Harrington Park on the AU campus. The Saxons take on fourth-seeded St. John Fisher at noon, following the 10 a.m. matchup between second-seeded Ithaca and third-seeded Stevens. The winner of the double-elimination tournament, which continues Saturday, earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.