GENESEO, NY – The Alfred University softball team split a pair of non-conference away games at SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday evening.
 
The doubleheader was the Saxons' (8-6, 0-0 Empire 8) first outing since returning from Kissimmee, FL. They fell in the first game, 8-0 before taking the nightcap, 2-1 behind the 10 strikeouts from sophomore pitcher, Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley).
 
"The time off from Florida really showed today. Geneseo is a great hitting team and they took advantage of our misses. And we missed a lot in game one," Head Coach Luke Wesneski said. "Our hitting was not good at all today and that's something we need to get better at very quickly. I was proud of how they [the Saxons] bounced back and gutted out a win in game two and we didn't waste a great pitching effort from Jess [Wilcox]. We need to put in some work in the next few days and just keep trying to get better."
 
Game One
 
The bats of the Knights were finding connections as they totaled nine hits for eight run, six of which were earned. Defensively, the Saxons only gave up one error on the day while during the top of the innings, Alfred University managed three hits from Sydney Saucedo (Whittier, CA/La Serna), Becca Alexander (Middletown, DE/Middletown) and Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech).
 
Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) got the start in the circle, pitching 3.0 innings before Jillian Murray (Eden, NY/Eden) came in for relief and pitched 2.2 innings before Geneseo ended the game in the sixth inning.
 
Game Two
 
The Saxons were the first on the board in the top of the third inning as Lu Krawczyk (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca) snuck a single bunt in that send Brenna Alvis (Costa Mesa, CA/Costa Mesa) home for the 1-0 lead. Geneseo tied the game in the bottom of the third as the Saxons tried to throw out a runner at second, getting her caught in a rundown while the runner from third stole home, making the score, 1-1.
 
The remainder of scheduled innings when scoreless for both squads as Wilcox would pick up seven of her 10 'K's including a bottom of the fifth inning where she retired all three batters that stepped to the plate, making the second and third Knight look at the third strike.
 
In extra innings, Saucedo grounded out to third before Krawczyk singled down the left field line. She then advanced to second on a stolen base before Elena Ceja (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Beach Union) smacked a single down the left line as well, sending Krawczyk home with two outs for what proved to be the game-winning run. Geneseo's three outs in the bottom of the inning came from a flyout to Alexander in right field, a groundout to Powers at third base and a pop fly to first base, Kelley Staub (Eden, NY/Eden).
 
Wilcox picked up her third win of the season (3-3) as she pitched all 8.0 innings, giving up six hits and one earned run, walking only one batter and sitting the 10 batters. Krawczyk was 2-for-3 with a run, RBI, a walk and one strikeout while going 2-for-3 in stolen bases.
 
The scheduled doubleheader against non-conference Clarkson University on Friday, March 30 has been postponed due to field conditions until Monday at 3:30PM and 5:30PM, making the Saxons next game against Nazareth College in Empire 8 Athletic Conference-opening action on Saturday, March 31 at 1PM and 3PM.