ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A five-run first inning propelled the Alfred University softball team as it roared to the Empire 8 Tournament championship round after a 6-0 victory over No. 14 St. John Fisher College, from the Softball Field on a beautiful Thursday afternoon.
 
The Saxons (30-8), the third seed in the tournament, will take on top-seeded St. John Fisher (27-4) once more in the championship round, which begins Saturday at noon. The Cardinals, ranked 14^th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings, defeated second-seeded Sage 13-5 in the elimination game Thursday afternoon. The Saxons need just one victory to earn the program's second Empire 8 Championship and first since 2015.
 
Eight Saxons tallied the team's nine hits in the victory. Junior infielder Tatiana Mejia (North Hills, Calif./John F. Kennedy) led the way with a 2-for-2 performance, walking once and scoring a run. First year infielder Mya Wells (San Ramon, Calif./California), junior infielder Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley), senior outfielder Sydney Saucedo (Whittier, Calif./La Serna), and ­­­graduate pitcher Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, N.Y./Pine Valley) each drove in a first inning run. Graduate infielder Elena Ceja (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Beach Union) made her only hit count, hitting her second home run of the tournament and fourth of the season in the fifth inning.
 
The runs were more than enough for Wilcox who twirled a complete-game shutout, scattering seven hits in seven innings with 10 strikeouts for her 17^th victory of the season. The 17 wins moves her into a third-place tie for most season wins in program history. Wilcox won 17 games in 2019 and Kerri Keeler '17 also did so, in the 2015 season.
 
I'm very proud of the girls," said head coach Luke Wesneski. "They came in with a different game plan on how to attack early and they executed it well. Jess threw a wonderful game, and our defense had a perfect game out there with no errors. When we do that, good things happen. Fisher has played us tough this year and they always do, so it was good to get that monkey off our back. We are excited to get some rest and get back to practice tomorrow to get ready for Saturday."
 
After Wilcox set the Fisher lineup in order in the first, junior infielder Ashley Lugo (Hesperia, Calif./Oak Hills) and Junior outfielder Alyssa Guitron (San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon) led the Saxon end of things with singles. Mejia was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Wells. The rookie came through with an RBI single past the diving shortstop, scoring Lugo to open the scoring. O'Toole came up and tallied an RBI single of her own up the middle, doubling the lead. A wild pitch brought Mejia home and Saucedo and Wilcox added RBIs of their own, as the Saxons raced out to a 5-0 lead.
 
Fisher starter Jess Patterson settled down and kept the Saxons off the board for the next three frames, but Wilcox kept serve. Ceja led off the fifth with a shot over the center field wall for the solo home run, her team-leading fourth of the season, second of the Empire 8 Tournament, and ninth of her career.
 
From there, Wilcox shut the door on any chance at a Fisher comeback, allowing just two singles but struck out two batters in the final two innings, as Emily Trotman's fly out to Mejia at third base ended the game.
 
This is the fifth appearance in the Empire 8 championship round for the Saxons, who also reached the finals in 2010, 2014, 2015, and 2019 campaigns.