ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team swept an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader from visiting Elmira College Saturday afternoon at Harrington Field. The Saxons used three home runs to power their way to an 11-5 win in the opener. In the second game, AU rallied from an early deficit to win 13-5 in five innings.
 
The Saxons got on the board early in the first game, as junior third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) belted a long homer to left-center that scored senior outfielder Samantha Jauregui (Lindsay, CA/Lindsay), who led off the inning with a single.
 
After Elmira cut its deficit in half on an Emily Carlin solo shot in the second, AU went back up by two when senior catcher Jasmine Picini (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) singled and came around to score on a wild pitch. Another solo home run by Elmira in the third made it 3-2, but the Saxons responded with a pair of two-run homeruns – by sophomore Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech) and Picini – in the bottom of the frame to take a 7-2 lead after three.
 
Elmira scored twice in the fourth and Carlin's second solo home run of the game, in the fifth, made it 7-5. The Saxons put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to close out the scoring. Sophomore outfielder Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) walked with the bases loaded to score Powers; freshman second baseman Dom Waters (Mantua, NJ/Clearview) was hit by a pitch to bring home another run; senior shortstop Nicole Maher (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) walked to score a run; and Jauregui scored on an error.
 
Powers (single, double, home run) and Picini were each 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in to pace the Saxons' bats. Senior Nora Passuite (Lockport, NY/Lockport) was 2-for-4 with two runs; Thompson drove in a pair; and Jauregui was 2-for-3 and scored twice.
 
Sophomore Kerri Keeler (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) earned the win to improve to 4-3, striking out five and allowing four earned runs on five hits over four innings. Freshman Dominque D'Andrea (Waterford, NJ/St. Joseph) earned the save, allowing one run on two hits over the final three innings and striking out a pair.
 
In the second game, AU spotted Elmira a 4-1 lead before plating four runs in the bottom of the second to take a 5-4 lead. Passuite led off inning with a single and scored on a triple to left-center by junior outfielder Brooke Hockeborn (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads). Senior first baseman Julie Canova (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis Academy) drove in Hockeborn with a sacrifice fly and Thompson drove home Jauregui and Maher with a double.
 
Elmira tied the game at 5-5 in the third but AU answered with three in the bottom of the innings to take an 8-5 lead. The Saxons never trailed again, plating two more in the fourth and three in the fifth to lead 13-5 and claim the eight-run rule win.
 
In the third, junior outfielder Hannah Lawrence (Spencer, NY/Spencer-Van Etten) singled to bring home Hockeborn and Passuite, then came home on a Jauregui double. In the fourth, Passuite reached on an error, with freshman Lea Georgatos (Emerson, NJ/Immaculate Conception) and Thompson scoring.
 
Freshman Lu Krawczyk (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) hit a one-our solo homerun in the home half of the fifth to give the Saxons an 11-5 lead. Maher singled and Thompson walked before Powers doubled to the right-center gap to score both runners and give AU an eighth-run lead that ended the contest.
 
Schaefer earned the pitching win in relief of starter D'Andrea. She came on with two outs in the second and allowed an earned run on two hits over 3 1/3 innings, striking out two to improve to 5-2 on the year.
 
Jauregui (3-for-3) and Maher (3-for-4) each scored two runs for the Saxons, while Powers was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Thompson and Lawrence each drove in two runs and Passuite and Hockeborn each scored twice.
 
AU is in action next on Wednesday, April 6, for a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader against visiting Keuka College.