Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  
UTICA, NY – The Alfred University softball team split an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader at Utica Monday afternoon. The Saxons won the first game, 2-0, then dropped the nightcap by the same score.
 
With the split, AU (24-8 overall), finished with a 7-5 Empire 8 record and will be seeded third in the four-team double-elimination conference championship tournament Friday and Saturday (May 2 and 3) at Ithaca College. Utica finishes with a 6-6 conference mark and will be seeded fourth.
 
In the opener Monday, AU scored single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, providing all the support junior pitcher Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) would need. Wickwire tossed a four-hit complete-game shutout, striking out six and walking one to improve to 12-4 on the season.
 
AU scored a run in the fourth when sophomore shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) hit a one-out double, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Nora Passuite (Lockport, NY/Lockport). The Saxons plated another run in the sixth when Maher hit a leadoff single. She was replaced by pinch runner, junior Alyson Hampton (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard), who stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on an error.
 
Sophomore catcher Jasmine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) went 2-for-4 for the Saxons.
 
AU was held hitless in the second game by Utica sophomore Erica Colucci, who allowed just a pair of walks. AU sophomore pitcher Katelyn Jakobsen (Elmwood Park, IL/Elmwood Park) pitched well in defeat, scattering nine hits over five innings and allowing just two first-inning runs (one unearned) to fall to 6-1 on the season. Freshman Sophia Chiavatti (Austin, CA/Foothills) finished up with a hitless ninth.
 
The Empire 8 will announce the conference tournament schedule Tuesday. Top-seeded and tournament host Ithaca play the fourth seed, Utica, in one first-round game Friday, while Alfred plays second-seeded Stevens in the other. First-round game losers will play in an elimination game later on Friday.