PITTSFORD, NY – The Alfred University softball team swept an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader at Nazareth College Tuesday afternoon, twice rallying from early one-run deficits.
 
Alfred took the opener, 8-4, scoring twice in the fifth to erase a 4-3 deficit, then plated five runs in the fourth to break a 1-1 tie on its way to a 9-1 five-inning win in the second game. With the sweep, the Saxons improve to 27-3 over and 9-1 Empire 8 play.
 
In the first game, Alfred led 3-0 before Nazareth scored four in the bottom of the fourth off AU senior starter Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda). Freshman Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) came in to get the final out of the inning. After AU took a 5-4 lead with a pair of runs in the fifth, sophomore Sophia Chiavatti (Austin, CA/Foothills) came in and tossed three innings of three-hit scoreless relief for the save as Schaefer improved to 5-0 on the year.
 
Red hot sophomore third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) got Alfred's bats going in the first with a homerun. The solo shot was her ninth of the year and eighth in the last nine games. Alfred added a run in second when junior shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) scored from third on a fielder's choice. In the fourth, the Saxons made it 3-0 when Chiavatti, who had doubled, scored on a single by senior outfielder Alyson Hampton (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard).
 
With AU trailing by a run in the top of the fifth, junior second baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Wickwire doubled her to third before junior Jasmine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) drove in the tying and winning runs with a double.
 
AU added a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to close out the scoring.

 

The Saxons banged out 12 hits, as Chiavatti finished 3-for-4 with three doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Her first double gave her 15 on the season, tying the school record set in 2010 by Molly Shepherd. Her second broke the record and her third gave her 17 on the year. Thompson went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in, while Hampton was 2-for-4 with a triple, a run and three RBIs.
 
Wickwire allowed four earned runs on three hits over 3 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking five before she was relieved by Schaefer. Wickwire's double was the 38^th of her career, extending her school record.
 
In the second game, Naz scored a run in the first to take the early lead before AU tied it up in fourth. Torchia stroked a one-out double and came in to score on a Picini double. The Saxons exploded for five runs in the fifth. After Schaefer scored on an error, freshman Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech) belted her first career homerun, a two-run shot, to put Alfred up 4-1. One batter later, Wickwire hit a two-run blast of her own to put the Saxons up five. It was Wickwire's 13^th homer of the year, extending her school single-season record, and 23^rd of her career, which ties the AU career record set by Jesika LeBarron (2007-10).
 
AU closed out the scoring with three runs in the fifth. Hampton hit an RBI single to make it 7-1 and junior outfielder Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay) gave an eight-run cushion with a one-out two-run double.
 

The Saxons' 15-hit attack was more than enough support for freshman starting pitcher Kerri Keeler (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt). She scattered six hits over five innings, allowing an earned run and striking out six to improve to 9-0.
 
Jauregui was 3-for-4 with a run and three RBIs; Torchia hit a pair of doubles and scored a run; Powers had two hits, scored a run and drove in two; Schaefer was 2-for-2 with a double and a run; and Wickwire was 2-for-4.
 
Alfred returns to action on Thursday, April 23, for a key Empire 8 doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. at St. John Fisher College.