YouTube Recap | Plays of the Week

ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team took both ends of an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader from visiting Houghton College Friday afternoon at Harrington Field.
 
Playing on Senior Day, the Saxons took the opener, 13-1 in five innings, then in a wild second game, the Saxons prevailed 10-9 in eight innings to improve to 16-14 overall, 7-5 in Empire 8 play. AU used a 10-hit attack in the opener, taking a big early lead and cruising to the win, and first-year second baseman Elena Ceja (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Beach Union) hit a walk-off double in the eighth inning of the nightcap to give AU the sweep.
 
AU jumped on the Highlanders in the opener, sending 11 batters to the plate in the first and scoring seven runs. Junior shortstop Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech) and first-year pitcher Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) each had run-scoring singles in the frame, while first-year second baseman Jillian Murray (Eden, NY/Eden) belted an RBI double.
 
Wilcox allowed the first two Houghton hitters to reach base in the second, but struck out the next three batters to escape the jam. AU added three runs in the bottom of the frame to go up 10-0.  Sophomore Dominique D'Andrea (Waterford, NJ/St. Joseph), Powers and Wilcox scored runs in the inning, while Powers, sophomore outfielder Becca Alexander (Middletown, DE/Middletown) and senior first baseman Sophia Chiavatti (Tustin, CA/Foothill) each drove in a run.
 
Houghton scored once in the third, but Alfred got the run back in the bottom of the inning when senior third baseman Liz Thompson (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) singled, stole second, moved to third on a single by senior outfielder Brooke Hockeborn (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) and came in to score on a wild pitch.
 
Houghton loaded the bases in the fourth, but Wilcox induced a flyout to end the threat. The Saxons plated a pair in the bottom of the inning to take a 13-1 lead, with D'Andrea singling to score Thompson and Hockeborn.
 
Houghton once again loaded the bases in the fifth, this time off junior Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield). Schaefer struck out the next three Highlander hitters to secure the eight-run rule win.
 
Wilcox earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year, allowing an earned run on four hits and striking out six over four innings. Schaefer finished up, allowing one hit and striking out three in a scoreless fifth.
 
D'Andrea (3-for-4) and Powers (2-for-4) each scored twice and drove in two runs. Chiavatti had two RBIs, Thompson scored three runs, and Wilcox scored a pair.
 
In the second game, Houghton started off hot, scoring a run in the first and four more in the second to take an early 5-0 lead.
 
The Saxons got a run back in the bottom of the second, when D'Andrea singled and stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Chiavatti's single to left. The Saxons went ahead an inning later, when they plated five runs to take a 6-5 lead. D'Andrea reached on an error with one out to load the bases and Ceja followed with a double to bring in Powers and sophomore outfielder Amanda Shaffer (Sandyston, NJ/Kittattinny Regional). Chiavatti singled to bring in D'Andrea and Staub belted a double to score Ceja and Chiavatti and give the Saxons their first lead of the game.
 
AU added to its advantage with three runs in the fourth. Thompson led off the inning with a solo homerun, her 10^th round-tripper of the year, and Powers and Shaffer later scored to put Alfred up 9-5. Houghton wouldn't go away, however, as the Highlanders plated two runs in the fifth to make it 9-7, then added two more in the sixth to knot the game at 9-9.
 
After a scoreless seventh, AU held Houghton's bats in check in the top of the eighth. Sophomore Lea Georgatos (Emerson, NJ/Immaculate Conception) hit a pinch-hit single leading off the bottom of the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice. Ceja followed with a double to right-center to score Georgatos with the winning run and make a winner of Schaefer.
 
Ceja hit two doubles, scored a run and drove in three and Powers was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Hockeborn was 3-for-5, D'Andrea (two runs) and Staub (two RBIs) each went 2-for-4, and Chiavatti was 2-for-4 with a runs scored and two driven in. Thompson's steal of second base in the seventh inning gave her 25 stolen bases on the year, tying the single-season record set by Nicole Hedrick in 2010.
 
Murray started and allowed five earned runs on six hits, striking out three in 1 2/3 innings of work. D'Andrea took over with two outs in the second and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits while striking out five. Schaefer tossed two scoreless innings one one-hit ball, striking out one to move to 5-5 on the season.
 
AU is in action next on Saturday, April 22, when the Saxons play a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher.