ROCHESTER, NY – Junior Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) tied her own school record of 14 strikeouts in a game to help the Saxons (16-14, Empire 8 8-4) to an Empire 8 split with defending-champion St. John Fisher on Saturday afternoon on the road.
 
The Saxons took game one of the single-day series at SJFC, 1-0 before dropping game two 5-0. Wilcox (12-6) pitched her 12^th complete game of the year and sixth complete game shutout against the Cardinals, who entered the day as the second-best hitting team in the Empire 8. Wilcox recorded 16 total strikeouts on the day, bringing her season total to 104, which is only nine strikeouts short of reaching the single-season top-five strikeout list.
 
Senior Becca Alexander (Middletown, DE/Middletown) led the Saxons with two hits on the day while first-year Tati Mejia (North Hills, CA/John F. Kennedy) batting in the Saxons' only run of the day.
 
Wilcox threw 7.0 innings, striking out 14 batters, tying her career-high and AU record set against Sage in the 2018. Following the game, Wilcox had thrown 19.0 consecutive scoreless innings.
 
Game One
As expected, the top-two pitchers in the Empire 8 in Jessica Wilcox and Emily Trotman duked it out for supremacy. The Saxons earned some life in the top of the second when Alexander reached base on a single with two outs. Fellow senior Kelley Staub (Eden, NY/Eden) wore a pitch before sophomore Sydney Saucedo (Whittier, CA/La Serna) singled to the pitcher to load the bases. However, AU was unable to push a run across the plate.
 
The Cardinals also had some life in the bottom of the second when Kubik led the inning off with a double to left. Wilcox took the wind out of the Cardinals, striking out the side behind the leadoff double to maintain the shutout.
 
AU finally got on the board in the top of the fifth when first-year Ashley Lugo (Hesperia, CA/Oak Hill) reached base on an error. She made the Cardinals pay, stealing second and eventually scoring on a single by Mejia. One run was all the Saxons needed as they rode Wilcox to the 17^th win of the season, 1-0.
 
Game Two
Wilcox and Trotman started game two as well, much to the chagrin of the batters. However, the Cardinals finally scored off Wilcox in the bottom of the second on a three-run homerun. Following the inning, junior Jillian Murray (Eden, NY/Eden) took the circle. SJFC scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the win, 5-0.
 
Wilcox pitched 2.0 innings, striking out two batters. Murray went 4.0 innings, allowing only two unearned runs on five hits.
 
"Another great overall pitching performance," Head Coach Luke Wesneski said. "Very proud of the girls as they played a tremendous game against a good team. Jess Wilcox had a stellar day and Lu Krawczyk (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) called a great game. Jill Murray's bat may have cooled off today, but she pitched four solid innings in relief. We just have to get better at the plate and establish some consistency. That starts with me and we will get better."
 
The Saxons are off until Tuesday when they travel to Potsdam, NY to take on the Clarkson Golden Knights in nonconference play at 3PM.