Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University softball team rallied from an early five-run deficit to defeat RIT, 12-7, and complete a sweep of the non-league doubleheader with the visiting Tigers. In the opener, The Saxons won 8-0 in five innings, as junior pitcher Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) struck out 12 Tigers to tie an AU single-game record.

In the second game, RIT (1-9) scored three runs in the top of the second, and after AU trimmed the lead to a run by scoring twice in the bottom of the frame, the visitors plated five in the third to take a 7-2 lead.

The Saxons (14-4) scored twice in the third before exploding for seven in the fourth to take an 11-7 advantage. AU would add an insurance run in the sixth to close out the scoring. AU sophomore pitcher Katelyn Jakobsen (Elmwood Park, IL/Elmwood Park) tossed 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win and improve to 5-0 on the year. She allowed just one hit and struck out five while walking none.

Sophomore second baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and two driven in. Her two-run double in the fourth gave AU an 8-7 lead. Wickwire was 3-for-4 with a run scored, driving in four runs with an RBI single, two-run double and solo homerun.

Sophomore shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) scored twice; freshman third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) was 2-for-3 with a triple and scored twice; and senior outfielder Rachel Guszick (Sparrowbush, NY/Port Jervis) had two hits and scored a run.

Freshman pitcher Sophia Chiavatti (Santa Ana, CA/Foothills) started and allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits while striking out three in two innings. Wickwire came in and allowed three runs (one earned) on a pair of hits in one-third of an inning.

Wickwire got the win in the opener, tossing five innings of three-hit shutout ball while whiffing 12. The 12 strikeouts tie the school record set by three other former Saxons, the most recent being Chelsey Cary in 2010. Wickwire helped herself at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a run scored and driving in three with a two-run homer and run-scoring single.

Maher (RBI double) was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two driven in; Torchia hit a double and scored a run; senior outfielder Samijo Scheer (Corning, NY/Corning East) was 2-for-2, scored twice and drove in a run; and Chiavatti belted a run-scoring single.

AU plays next on Thursday, April 10, when the Saxons take on host Hilbert College in a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader.