PITTSFORD, NY – The Alfred University softball team swept a doubleheader from host St. John Fisher College Thursday afternoon, clinching at least a share of the Empire 8 Conference title and ensuring the Saxons will be the top seed and host of next weekend's conference championship tournament.
 
Alfred (29-3) won the opener, 4-2, rallying from an early one-run deficit behind a pair of solo home runs from junior catcher Jamine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) and sophomore third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads). In the second game, the Saxons again used a pair of homeruns, including a first-inning grand slam by junior shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy), on their way to a 10-8 victory.
 

The sweep improved the Saxons' league record to 11-1, guaranteeing AU at least a tie of the regular season conference title. One win in their season-ending league doubleheader Monday at home against Houghton will give the AU its first-ever outright Empire 8 crown. Alfred shared the league crown with Ithaca in 2010, when both teams posted 13-1 conference marks.
 
Regardless of the outcome of Monday's games with Houghton, Alfred will be the number one seed in the four-team Empire 8 championship tournament May 1-2, the winner of which earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III championships.
 
The first game was a battle of standout freshmen pitchers, with Alfred's Kerri Keeler (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) outdueling the Cardinals' Lindsay Thayer. Fisher scored a run in third to take the early lead and Thayer held the Saxon bats in check through four, striking out seven.
 
AU got to Thayer in the fifth, when Picini led off the inning with a homerun to center, her third of the year, to tie the game at 1-1. Thompson gave the Saxons the lead for good with her 10^th homerun of the season, a solo blast to center leading off the sixth.
 
The Saxons added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Picini singled leading off and one out later junior pinch runner Mackenzie Miller (Newport, OR/Newport) moved to third on a double by freshman outfielder Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield). Miller scored on an error before Schaefer came in on an RBI single by junior outfielder Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay).
 
Keeler allowed two earned runs on seven hits over seven innings, striking out seven and walking one to improve to 10-0 on the season.
 
Megan Burns and Kristina Balsano (homerun) each had a hit and scored a run for Fisher (24-12, 7-5 E8).

 

In the nightcap, Maher got things going early, drilling a grand slam with one out. Fisher responded with three off AU sophomore starter Sophia Chiavatti (Austin, CA/Footfills) in the bottom of the frame, but Alfred got two of the runs right back in the second, when Thompson blasted a two-run homer with two outs to make it 6-3.
 
AU added a pair of runs in the third and another in the fourth to take a 9-4 lead. Fisher scored three times in the fifth to draw within two, at 9-7, but Alfred scored a run in top of the seventh to make it 10-7, then survived a late rally by the Cardinals, who loaded the bases with two outs but could only push across one run.
 
Keeler (11-0) got the win after replacing Chiavatti to start the second. She allowed four earned runs on eight hits over 3 2/2 innings, striking out two. Schaefer allowed a run on three hits in 2 1/3 innings to earn her third save of the year. Maher (homerun, double) finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and five driven in; Jauregui had two hits, including a double, and scored twice; and Schaefer drove in a pair with a third-inning single.
 
Emma Savas went 2-for-4 with a homerun, two runs and two RBIs to pace the Cardinal offense. Thayer took the pitching loss, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits over three innings.
 
Alfred travels to Keuka College Sunday, April 26, for a 1 p.m. non-conference doubleheader. The Saxons entertain Houghton in an E8 twinbill beginning at 5

p.m. Monday.
 
Alfred will be hosting its second-ever E8 championship tournament next weekend. In 2010, when the Saxons finished tied with Ithaca atop the league standings, AU won a coin toss for the right to host the tournament.