Thayer Breaks Division III Career Strikeout Record, Mazierski Breaks Empire 8 Hit Record as No. 6 Softball Cruises to Win over Immaculata in NCAA Regional
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Lindsey Thayer became Division III softball's all-time strikeout leader on Friday afternoon as the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team blanked Immaculata University, 4-0, in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship at The Softball Complex. With the win, Fisher, which is ranked sixth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, improved to 31-7 overall while the Mighty Macs had an 11-game winning streak snapped to close out the day at 28-15.
Fisher will return to the diamond at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning when it takes on SUNY Geneseo after the Knights took down Mount Saint Mary, 4-0, earlier on Friday. The winner of that game will advance to the championship round on Sunday. Immaculata will look to stay alive against Mount Saint Mary at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in an elimination bout.
Thayer, who entered the day needing just three strikeouts to pass Coast Guard's Hayley Feindel's mark, wasted no time etching her name into the record book as the senior pitcher surpassed the all-time record in just the second inning and finished with a season-high 18 strikeouts overall. The Winthrop native, who eclipsed the previous record in nearly 200 fewer innings, now sits at 1,473 career strikeouts. Overall, Thayer pitched seven shutout innings to earn her 21st win of the season (21-3). She scattered just two hits and did not allow a walk.
After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, the Cardinals, who have now won 16 straight games, got on the board in the bottom of the second inning with three runs on three hits and an Immaculata error.
Emma Savas got things started after reaching on an infield error and moved into scoring position when
Katie Mazierski beat out a single to the pitching circle.
With two on and one away,
Julia Sortisio blasted a double to left center that plated Savas before
Ashley Prince cleared the bases with a two-run single up the middle to make it 3-0 in Fisher's favor.
Fisher added to its lead in the fifth frame when
Emily Trotman lifted an RBI-double to left that scored
Sammie Torlish, the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, to lift Fisher to the 4-0 win.
The Cardinals produced 11 hits in all in the win highlighted by Mazierski who broke the Empire 8 Conference's career hit record after going 2-for-4 on the day. Mazierski, who has now authored 216 hits over her career surpassed Kim Martin's (Utica College) previous mark, which had stood since 2011. To date, Mazierski sits just eight hits away from becoming Fisher's all-time hits leader as Jen Wilder accounted for 223 hits during her Hall-of-Fame career.
Sortisio and Prince each had three hits in the win with Prince driving in a pair.
Sarah Kubik, the Empire 8 Co-Player of the Year, had one hit in three at-bats while Trotman and
Mary Claire Grosvenor each had one base hit overall.