ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team entertained Clarkson in the Saxons' 2017 home opener Wednesday, splitting a doubleheader with the Golden Knights at Harrington Field. AU dropped the opener, 5-1, before scoring a 10-2 six-inning win in the nightcap.
 
In the second game, AU (8-6) jumped on Clarkson early, plating a single run in the first and adding three more in the second frame to take a 4-0 lead.
 
Junior shortstop Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech) singled to drive in sophomore pitcher Dominique D'Andrea (Waterford, NJ/St. Joseph) with the game's first run. In the second, senior outfielder Hannah Lawrence (Spencer, NY/Spencer-Van Etten) doubled to score first-year second baseman Jillian Murray (Eden, NY/Eden). Senior third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) tripled to score Lawrence before coming in to score on a wild pitch and give the Saxons a 4-0 lead after two.
 
AU broke the game open with four runs in the third, with Thompson delivering the big blow. After Lawrence singled with the bases loaded to plate sophomore outfielder Becca Alexander (Middletown, DE/Middletown), Thompson blasted a double to deep center that cleared the bases, scoring sophomore catcher Lu Krawczyk (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) and Murray and Lawrence  to give AU an 8-0 lead.
 
Clarkson scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to make it 8-2, but the Saxons answered with a pair in the bottom of the sixth to secure the eight-run rule win. Thompson doubled with one out and came in on a pinch-hit double by first-year Elena Ceja (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Beach Union). One out later, senior first baseman Sophia Chiavatti (Tustin, CA/Foothill) singled to score Ceja with the winning run.
 
Thompson finished three-for-four with two runs and four RBIs for the Saxons. Lawrence was two-for-three with two runs scored and two driven in, and Murray scored twice.
 
D'Andrea got the pitching win to improve to 2-0 on the year, tossing four innings of two-hit shutout ball while striking out three. First-year Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) went two innings in relief, allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits and striking out three.
 
In the opener, Clarkson (10-8) took a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the third, and added four runs an inning later to take a 5-0 lead.
 
AU scored its lone run of the game on Powers' two-out solo home run in the fourth. AU was held to four hits in the contest: Alexander's double and singles off the bats of Thompson and Chiavatti.
 
Murray took the complete-game loss for AU, allowing five runs (one unearned) on seven hits while striking out three and walking three to fall to 2-1 on the year.
 
AU is in action next on Saturday, April 1, at 1 p.m., when the Saxons open Empire 8 Conference play with a doubleheader against visiting Ithaca.