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ITHACA, NY – The Alfred University softball team rallied to beat Utica College, 3-2, Friday afternoon at the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament at Ithaca College.
 
AU (29-11), the fourth seed in the double-elimination tournament, will play the loser of Saturday's matchup between top-seeded Ithaca and second-seeded St. John Fisher at 1 p.m. Saturday. Fisher and Ithaca had been scheduled to square off at 4 p.m. Friday, but with poor weather pushing play back, they will now play at 11 a.m. Saturday. Utica (22-17), the third seed, is eliminated with the loss.
 
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Utica took a 2-0 lead in the second when Stephanie Siriano doubled home Nicole Rice and Alysa Russell with two outs. Alfred answered in the bottom of the fourth, plating two runs to tie the game. Senior second baseman Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) was hit by a pitch with one out and moved up two bases on consecutive wild pitches before senior outfielder Nora Passuite (Lockport, NY/Lockport) walked to put runners on the corners. Passuite advanced to second on a groundout before she and Torchia scored on a two-out single by junior first baseman Sophia Chiavatti (Tustin, CA/Footfill).
 
Chiavatti put the Saxons ahead in the sixth. Torchia singled leading off and went to second on a sacrifice and third on a groundout. With two outs, Chiavatti hit the first pitch she saw up the middle and into centerfield to drive in Torchia and give AU a 3-2 lead.
 
The Pioneers loaded the bases against AU sophomore pitcher Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) with two outs in the seventh, but Schaefer struck out Kassidy Ogren to end the game.
 
Chiavatti was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Torchia 1-for-2 with two runs scored to lead the Saxons. Russell paced Utica with three hits in four at-bats and Siriano was 1-for-3 with two runs driven in.
 
Schaefer earned the complete-game win, allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out five and walking six to improve to 12-4 on the year. Utica's Abby Monroe took the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits and striking out for to fall to 11-9.
 
Earlier in the day, Alfred dropped a close decision to Ithaca, as the Bombers rallied for two seventh-inning runs to pull out a 3-2 win. Fisher defeated Utica, 7-2, in the tournament's opening game. The tournament winner earns the Empire 8 Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III championships.