ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University softball team battled through unusually cold weather, earning a doubleheader sweep of Elmira College in Empire 8 action from Doris Harrington Field Saturday afternoon. The Saxons defeated the Soaring Eagles by a 1-0 score in game one, then completed the sweep with an 11-5 win in game two.
 
The Saxons (14-5, 5-3 Empire 8) improve their winning streak to four games with the sweep. Elmira falls to 3-9 overall and 2-4 in conference.

It was a tale of two completely different contests. In game one, the Saxons were held to just one hit, a season low, but held Elmira to three in the shutout victory. AU's offense broke out in game two, tallying a season-high 16 hits, scoring 10 or more runs for the fourth time this season.
 
Junior infielder Ashley Lugo (Hesperia, CA/Oak Hills) continues to climb the AU record books, stealing two more bases to finish the afternoon with 25 stolen bases on the season, moving in a tie for second place on the single season record list. Nicole Hedrick '12 stole 25 bases in 2010, before Lugo matched the feat in the 2019 season.

"Today was a great effort by everybody all around," said head coach Luke Wesneski. "We were fortunate to have a great pitching performance by Megan in game one and the bats finally came alive in game two behind solid pitching by Arden and Mikaela. We are hoping to carry that over to tomorrow. I'm very proud of the girls' resiliency while our bats have been a bit cold."
 
 
GAME ONE
 
With runs and hits at an absolute premium, the Saxons struck first the hard way. After Lugo got hit on a 3-2 pitch to begin the game, she stole second base, then advanced to third after a wild pitch. Two batters later, a passed ball scored Lugo from third, giving AU its only run of the game.
 
The Saxons got a big lift from first year pitcher Megan Bennett (Athens, PA/Athens Area). The rookie twirled her first complete-game shutout of her career, scattering three hits through seven innings, striking out nine for her fourth victory of the season (4-1). Bennett breezed through most of the game without incident but ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth inning. With an Elmira runner in scoring position and one away, Bennett struck out Bella DeAmelia with a well-placed pitch on the outside corner, and then forced Ally Barr to ground out to third base to end the threat. Bennett sat down the Soaring Eagles in order in the sixth and seventh innings to finish the three-hitter.
 
It was a hard-earned loss for Elmira starter Jillian Cortez (0-4), who kept the Saxon bats in check with a complete-game, one hit performance. She struck out three batters but walked three. Junior outfielder Alyssa Guitron (San Bernardino, CA/Cajon) tallied Alfred's only hit in the fourth inning.
 
GAME TWO
 
The Saxon offense returned late in the game two victory. The Saxons, batting as the visiting team in Saturday's doubleheader, struck first once again thanks to a one-out, run-scoring single by junior infielder Tatiana Mejia (North Hills, CA/John F. Kennedy) in the first inning.
 
Elmira struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, as run scoring singles by Cortez and Barr gave Elmira a 2-1 lead. That lead was not safe for the Soaring Eagles, as the Saxons went back to work in the third. Sophomore outfielder Isabella Carrillo (Van Nuys, CA/Birmingham Community Charter) led off the inning with a single, before stealing second base. Lugo then brought Carrillo home with an RBI triple to right field, tying the game at two. Two batters later, Mejia grounded out, but Lugo was able to score from third as the Saxons took the lead at 3-2. Two batters later, junior infielder Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) doubled to left field, doubling the Saxon lead to two.
 
The Saxons tacked on a few more runs in the fifth inning, as O'Toole drove in two runs with a single through the left side. A few batters later, the game two starter, sophomore pitcher Arden Hatch (Orangevale, CA/St. Francis) helped her own cause with a one-out RBI single to left center. Coming in as a pinch hitter in the next at-bat, first year infielder Alexa Woluewich (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream) knocked in her first collegiate RBI, as the Saxons held an 8-2 lead. The lead stretched to 10-2 in the sixth, as senior outfielder Sydney Saucedo (Whittier, CA/La Serna) scored on an error at first base, and first year infielder Raygan Wescott (Taft, CA/Taft Union) doubled, scoring O'Toole.
 
With Elmira facing the collegiate run rule in the bottom of the frame, the Soaring Eagles responded with a Cortez three-run home run off Saxon reliever, first year Mikaela Perez (Pomona, CA/Diamond Ranch). The homer, her second of the season, cut the Alfred deficit to five, at 10-5. Emboldened, Perez began the seventh inning with a moonshot of her own, taking the first pitch she saw off Elmira reliever Kristen Aasheim deep into left field for her first career home run, giving the Saxons an 11-5 lead. Perez then pitched a scoreless seventh to complete the Saxon sweep.
 
It was a balanced offensive attack in game two, led by a 3-for-5 performance from Saucedo. Lugo, Mejia, O'Toole, and first year infielder Mya Wells (San Ramon, CA/California) each tallied two hits.
 
Hatch picked up her third victory of the season (3-1), allowing four earned runs but struck out seven batters in five innings pitched. Perez allowed one earned in two innings pitched in relief, striking out two batters.
 
The Saxons will return to action on Sunday, hosting Keuka College in an afternoon doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.