ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team split a pair of contests Friday on the first day of action at the Empire 8 Conference championship tournament.
 
The top-seeded and host Saxons (32-4) dropped their opening game, 2-0, to fourth-seeded St. John Fisher, then rebounded to top third-seeded Stevens, 9-0. With the loss Stevens – which fell 4-3 earlier in the day to second-seeded Ithaca, is eliminated from the double-elimination tournament.  AU will take on second-seeded Ithaca at 11a.m. Saturday in an elimination game.
 
In the win over Stevens, AU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, plating three in the first and one in the second. The Saxons would add three in the fifth and a pair in the seventh to back the three-hit shutout pitching of freshman Kerri Keeler (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt). Keeler struck out six and walked four to improve to 13-0 on the season.
 
Senior Alison Wickwire (Towanda, PA/Towanda) belted a homerun and double, drove in two and scored twice, and sophomore first baseman Sophia Chiavatti (Tustin, CA/Foothill) hit two doubles and drove in three runs to pace the Saxons' 11-hit attack.
 
Junior outfielder Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay) hit a two-run triple and scored a run; junior catcher Jasmine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI; and junior second baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp) had two hits and scored three runs.
 
In the loss to Fisher, AU managed just five hits off Cardinal starter Lindsey Thayer. Wickwire took the loss for Alfred, allowing two runs (one earned) on 10 hits and striking out two.
 
Freshman outfielder Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) was 2-for-3 for AU. Junior shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) hit a double and senior outfielder Alyson Hampton (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) was 1-for-3.
 
The winner of Saturday morning's AU-Ithaca game will take on Fisher at 1 p.m. Saturday. If Fisher wins, the Cardinals will win the E8 title; if Fisher loses, the two teams will meet again for a winner-take-all championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday. The tournament champ earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA championships.