Empire 8 Play of the Week

ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team (19-17, 6-6 Empire 8) fell the to the #9 St. John Fisher College Cardinals in back-to-back games on Harrington Field during Friday's conference doubleheader.
 
Sophomore Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) squared off against SJFC's senior Lindsay Thayer in a pitcher's duel during the first game. The duo tallied 20 total strikeouts with Wilcox taking home nine over the course of seven innings. She currently has 133 strikeouts on the season, only five short of tying the school record for strikeouts in a single season held by Chelsey Cary with 138 strikeouts during the 2010 season.
 
First year Sydney Saucedo (Whittier, CA/La Serna) and sophomore Jillian Murray (Eden, NY/Eden) led AU during the two games with two hits each in game two. Sophomore Elena Ceja (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Beach Union) had the lone hit in during game one in the bottom of the seventh inning to break up Thayer's no-hitter.
 
Game One
 
The Cardinals came out of the gates early, putting a run up on the board in the top of the first inning. Wilcox hit the first batter and allowed a hit and one more walk to load the bases before she settled in and struck out three of the four remaining batters in the inning to get herself out of a jam, 1-0.
 
The next four innings saw little action as both pitchers were nearly untouchable. The Saxons found life during the bottom of the third when first year Brenna Alvis (Costa Mesa, CA/Costa Mesa) walked. However, Thayer struck out the next batter to shut the inning down. Junior Becca Alexander (Middletown, DE/Middletown) walked in the bottom of the fourth but found the same fate with no support behind her in the lineup.
 
The Cardinals doubled their lead, 2-0, in the top of the sixth inning before the Saxons threatened with another walk by Alvis who was moved over to second by a sacrifice bunt by Saucedo. However, two more AU batters fell victim to Thayer's arm to close the inning.
 
The Saxons finally broke the no-hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ceja drilled a liner to the left center fence. It was to no avail, with the next batter striking out to end the game.
 
Wilcox pitched her 12^th complete game of the season, striking out nine, walking two and allowing eight hits.
 
Game Two
 
SJFC started the second game like they did the first, by putting runs on the board to take a 2-0 lead. The Saxons answered with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first, but they were unable to score. The Cardinals extended the lead, 3-0, in the top of the third.
 
AU scored its first run of the evening in the bottom of the third when Saucedo singled to third on a bloop slap-hit. Murray stepped up to the plate behind her and hammered a double to the left field fence, scoring the speedy Saucedo from first. Senior Haley Powers (Newark, DE/St. Georges Tech) walked later in the inning, but the Saxons were unable to close the gap prior to the end of the inning.
 
The Cardinals scored again in the top of the fourth to bring the game to 4-1 before Saucedo scored to close the gap again. She reached on a fielder's choice before sneaking to second on a wild pitch. Murray singled to left before Alexander ripped in her team-leading 25^th RBI of the season on a single to third. SJFC answered back in the top of the sixth and top of the seventh to bring the game to 6-2.
 
AU found life in the bottom of the seventh when Murray reached on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She was scored on a liner up the middle by Powers a batter later. However, it was too late as the Cardinals remained undefeated in Empire 8 play (12-0) with a 6-3 victory.
 
Senior Shannon Schaefer (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) pitched three innings, earning two strikeouts and allowing two walks. Murray entered the game for four innings, letting up three earned runs before Schaefer re-entered to wrap up the game.

"We were firing on all cylinders today," Head Coach Luke Wesneski said. "I know the hits/runs column doesn't show it, but we swung the bats well and hit some balls hard and had some really good at bats. Jess was solid in game one and went pitch-for-pitch with arguably one of the best at the NCAA Division III level. We game ourselves a chance to win both games and that will help us moving forward with conference games tomorrow and hopefully the conference tournament next week."
 
The Saxons will look to rebound tomorrow when they host Elmira on Harrington Field at 1PM in Empire 8 play.