CLERMONT, FL – The Alfred University softball team dropped both games during day four of its trip to Florida, falling to Carthage College and Lake Forest College on Thursday.

The Saxons (3-5, 0-0 Empire 8) had leads in both games as they fell to the Firebirds (5-5, 0-0 CCIW) 11-3 in five innings and to the Foresters (6-2, 0-0 MWC) in the final inning of play, 16-10.


Game One (5 Innings)
Carthage College – 11 | Alfred University – 3

The Saxons were the first on the board when Kendall Steward (Kennedy, NY/Randolph) drove in Samantha Vidal (Lake Worth, FL/Forest Hill) with a single through the left side in the top of the first inning. Vidal then singled up the middle in the second inning to score Paris Guzman (Santa Fe Springs, CA/Santa Fe) to make it a 2-0 lead. Bella Mistretta (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield Secondary) followed with a single to right field to bring home Alexis Martinez (Anaheim, CA/Woodbridge) for a 3-0 Saxon lead.

Carthage scored four runs in the bottom of the third, another two in the fourth and then five in the bottom of the fifth, capping the scoring and the game off with a single to center field that drove in the walk-off run.

Vidal and Steward had two hits in the game while one of Steward's was a double.


Game Two
Alfred University – 10 | Lake Forest – 16

The Saxons scored first in the bottom of the second as Brielle Wark (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) singled to third base on a bunt, forcing a bad throw that sent Steward home for the 1-0 lead. Wark then scored on a wild pitch in the same inning to make it a 2-0 lead.

The lead was erased in the top of the fifth as Lake Forest scored seven runs. The Saxons clawed back with seven of their own in the bottom of the inning, before giving up nine runs in the top of the seventh. A solo home run from Guzman in the bottom of the inning would not be enough to close the gap and at minimum, force extra innings.

Guzman finished the nightcap with three hits (one home run and two doubles) on four at-bats with three RBI and two runs while Molly Whitmyer (Enola, PA/Trinity) registered the Saxons' first grand slam of the season, being the shot to open up the bottom of the fifth scoring as she sent home Vidal, Martinez and Mistretta.

The Saxons will next wrap up their stay in the Sunshine State with a 9:00am game against University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and an 11:15am finale with Calvin University on Friday, March 13.