Softball | 5/11/2021 8:39:04 PM
Top-seed St. John Fisher College (26-3) and No. 3 seed Alfred University (29-8) won their opening games of the double elimination 2021 Empire 8 Softball Tournament from host St. John Fisher on Tuesday, May 11. No. 2 seed Russell Sage (17-5) lost its opening game of the day but rebounded later in the afternoon to defeat Utica College (14-15) in the first elimination game. Utica suffered a pair of losses and was eliminated from tournament play.
St. John Fisher blanked Utica, 5-0 behind a no-hitter from Jess Patterson to open tournament play. Alfred defeated Russell Sage, 10-0 in game two. In the first elimination game of the tournament, Russell Sage rallied to defeat Utica, 6-4.
St. John Fisher and Alfred will meet in the winner's bracket game four at noon on Thursday, May 13. Russell Sage will face the losing team from game four in game five Thursday at 2:30 p.m., which will also serve as an elimination game. The complete tournament schedule is below, as all games will be played at St. John Fisher.
GAME 1 - NO. 1 ST. JOHN FISHER 5, NO. 5 UTICA 0
Sophomore
Jess Patterson tossed her first-career no-hitter on Tuesday morning to lift St. John Fisher to the victory. Patterson moved to 14-1 in the circle following the win as the Rennselaer native yielded just three walks and finished with seven strikeouts on the day.
After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the top of the second inning, Fisher found its footing in the home half of the third and plated two runs on three hits with
Emily Trotman and
Maria Marcera each driving in a run.
The game remained a two-run affair until the bottom of the sixth when the Cardinals sent eight hitters to the plate and pushed five runs across.
Sammie Torlish got the inning going with a single to center and advanced to second when
Megan Kreger reached on a fielder's choice. With two on and no outs,
Allie Klonowski singled in a run before
Allison Rogowski drove in a pair with a deep single to right-center before the Pioneers could retire the side.
In all, Fisher collected eight hits led by Trotman who was 2-for-4.
Emma Smith had two hits in all while Torlish, Rogowski, Klonowski, and
Maddie Klidonas each had one hit.
GAME 2 - NO. 3 ALFRED 10, NO. 2 RUSSELL SAGE 0 (5 INNINGS)
It was a dominant performance in the circle and at the plate for the Saxons, who have scored 10 or more runs in all three of their contests against the Gators this season. AU tallied 13 hits, led by two hit performances by junior infielder
Ashley Lugo, junior outfielder
Alyssa Guitron, junior infielder
Tatiana Mejia , and graduate infielder
Elena Ceja . Ceja and Guitron both hit home runs, with Guitron tallying her first career home run, and Ceja and first year infielder
Mya Wells each drove in two RBIs.
In the circle, graduate pitcher
Jessica Wilcox shut the door on the Gator offense, with her second consecutive complete-game shutout. She gave up just two hits, striking out 11 Sage batters to increase her record to 16-3 on the season.
The Saxons scored in each of the first four innings, jumping out on the Gators in the process. In the first inning, Wells hit a two-out, RBI double deep along the right field line and O'Toole singled in the second run in the very next at-bat. In the second,
Isabella Carrillo hit an RBI double. Lugo then brought Carrillo home in the next at-bat with a single through to the right side. Two batters later, Mejia finished the three-run inning with a hard-hit single past the third baseman, as the Saxons took a 5-0 lead.
AU turned the power up in the third inning, as Ceja led the inning with a shot to left center field, clearing the wall for a solo home run, her third of the season. In the fourth, Wells drew a walk with the bases loaded, her team-leading 17th of the season, as the Saxons took a 7-0 lead. A few batters later, Ceja struck again with a run-scoring hit, singling through the left side to score Guitron from third base. A wild pitch in the next at-bat scored another run, as the Saxons took advantage with their second three-run inning of the game, leading 9-0.
Guitron capped the scoring with another display of Saxon power in the fifth inning. With two outs, the junior sent a pitch deep into dead center field, clearing the fence for her first home run of her career, which gave the Saxons a 10-0 advantage. From there, Wilcox put the finishing touches on the contest, striking out the side in the bottom of the frame as the Saxons earned the run-rule victory.
GAME 3 - NO.2 RUSSELL SAGE 6, NO. 5 UTICA 4
In a see-saw battle, Russell Sage and Utica faced off for the fifth time this season. RSC lead 1-0 after the first inning before the Pioneers took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. RSC tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. RSC added two more runs in the top of the sixth and a single run in the top of the seventh.
Dicranian picked up another complete game win as she scattered 11 hits and allowed just three earned runs in seven innings of work. She picked up her 15th win of the season, and is now just one victory shy of tying the program's single-season victory mark set in 2012 by Kelsey Newberg (16).
Dicranian, Lindsey and junior outfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) all connected for doubles in the game, while Papas was 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI. Dicranian was 3-for-4 with a run scored, a double, and two RBI's, while Lindsey added a 2-for-4 effort with two RBI.
Looking ahead to Thursday, St. John Fisher defeated Alfred four times during the regular season. Russell Sage handed St. John Fisher its only Empire 8 blemish to date in game two on April 17 in extra innings after the Cardinals won game one. Alfred has defeated Russell Sage three times in 2021.
2021 Empire 8 Softball Championship Schedule
Empire 8 First Round – Saturday, May 8
#3 Alfred University defeats #6 Elmira College, 2-0 - STATS
#5 Utica College defeats #4 Keuka College, 9-1 (5 innings) - STATS
Empire 8 Double Elimination Championship (Hosted by St. John Fisher College)
Tuesday, May 11
Game 1 – #1 St. John Fisher College defeats #5 Utica College, 5-0 - STATS
Game 2 – #3 Alfred University defeats #2 Russell Sage College, 10-0 (5 innings) - STATS
Game 3 – #2 Russell Sage College defeats #5 Utica College (elimination game), 6-4 - STATS
Thursday, May 13
Game 4 – #3 Alfred University vs. #1 St. John Fisher College - 12 p.m. - VIDEO - STATS
Game 5 – #2 Russell Sage College vs. Losing Team from Game 4 (elimination game) - 2:30 p.m. - VIDEO - STATS
Saturday, May 15
Game 6 – Championship Game 1 (Winner of game 4 vs. winner of Game 5) – possible champion to be crowned - 12 p.m. - VIDEO - STATS
Game 7 – Championship Game 2 (if necessary) - 2:30 p.m. - VIDEO - STATS