Alfred, N.Y. -- The softball team (23-13, 12-2 E8) clinched the Empire 8 regular-season title and the right to host next weekend’s Empire 8 Championship Tournament by splitting Friday’s doubleheader at Alfred. Ithaca won game one 7-6 before the Saxons bounced back with a 6-0 win in the nightcap that gave them their first win ever against Ithaca.
The Bombers will host the four-team Empire 8 Championship Tournament Friday and Saturday. Ithaca will face the fourth seed (either Rochester Institute of Technology or Utica) at 10 a.m. in Friday’s opener with second-seeded St. John Fisher taking on third-seeded Alfred at noon. The double elimination tournament continues with two more games Friday and up to three games scheduled for Saturday.
Sophomore Brittany Lillie (Honeoye Falls-Lima/Honeoye Falls) registered four hits between the two games and added two RBI’s in game one. Lillie also picked up the win in game one to improve to 8-2 on the season.
In game one, freshman Annmarie Forenza (Hunterdon Central/Whitehouse Station, N.J.) put the Bombers on the board in the second inning with a two-out single that scored classmates Tricia Santelli (Newark/Newark) and Julianna Van Meter (Rome Free Academy/Rome).
In the fourth inning, five straight Bombers reached base as the team scored five runs on three hits in the inning. Van Meter singled to start the inning for her second hit of the day. Sophomore Courtney Noster (Clearview/Lorain, Ohio) drew a base on balls in the next at-bat and junior Alyssa Guzman (Newburgh Free Academy/Newburgh) singled home Van Meter. Forenza was intentionally walked in the next at-bat and junior Caitlin Ryan (Allentown/Clarksburg/N.J.) reached base on an error which scored another run for the Bombers. Lillie smacked a two-run single in the following at-bat to drive in Forenza and Guzman. Ryan scored the final run of the inning on a groundout to second base which made the second out of the inning.
Junior pitcher Alyssa Brook (Monmouth Regional/Tinton Falls, N.J.) came in to pitch in the fifth inning and stopped the Saxons momentum following a three-run spurt with a strikeout to end the inning which left two runners on base. Brook registered strikeouts for the first and final outs of the seventh inning to secure the 7-6 victory and picked up her first save of the season.
In the nightcap, Alfred scored four runs in the first three innings off Brook, who struck out five batters in a complete game effort despite the loss.
The Bombers will return to action on Sunday for a doubleheader against host Buffalo State at 1 p.m.
Game one box score
Game two box score