The St. John Fisher College softball team improved to 24-14 and 8-4 in the Empire 8 Conference with a sweep of visiting East Ave. rival Nazareth College on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Fisher field.

With the losses, Nazareth falls to 12-18 overall and 4-8 in the Empire 8.

Game One: Fisher 2, Nazareth 1

A walk-off homerun from Leanne Merchant in the bottom of the seventh inning would break a 1-1 knot to give Fisher a 2-1 win in game one.

Nazareth's Brittany Patenaude kicked off the scoring with a solo homerun over the left field fence to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, marking the Golden Flyers' lone run of the game.

Kelly Jones tied the game with a solo homerun over the center field fence in the bottom of the third, locking the score at one for the next four innings.

With the count full, Merchant stepped in to rip her sixth homerun of the season well past the center field fence.

Michelle Krier improved to 6-4 on the season, pitching all seven innings for the Cardinals. Krier scattered five hits, allowed only one run, and fanned nine Golden Flyer batters.

Game two: Fisher 7, Nazareth 1

Fisher kicked things off early in the nightcap, with a run from Kelly Hausler in the top of the second. Hausler singled to get on base then stole second, and was brought in on a double from Lauren O'Brien.

In the Cardinals' next at bat, Merchant slammed her second homerun of the day and seventh of the season, a two-run homerun that scored Carissa Carlson as well. A three-run lead not enough, Laura Rojek stepped up to the plate to hit her first career homerun for the Cardinals, pushing the Cardinals to a solid 4-0 lead exiting the third.

The Cardinals managed to fend off the Golden Flyers in the third, catching the runner on second after a fly out to left field to end the inning prematurely. Back up at the plate, Samantha Vara singled and then scored on another double from O'Brien parallel to the foul line up the left side. Jenn Vanek singled to advance O'Brien to third, then stole second herself. Meghan Graves singled to bring O'Brien in, followed by a single from Carissa Carlson to score Vanek, capping off a three-run inning and bringing the Cardinals to a 7-0 lead that would hold until the bottom of the seventh.

The Golden Flyers earned a run in their last at bat, but it was too little too late as Fisher completed its sweep of its East Ave. rival.

Sarah Stefanon improved to 7-5 on the season, seeing only two hits and striking out two batters. Chrissy Capalbo earned her first save of the season, pitching three innings in relief.

Merchant finished the day with a team best two homeruns and three RBI, going 3-for-6 from the plate, while six other Cardinals had multiple hits in the doubleheader, including a team-high three doubles from O'Brien.

The Cardinals return to action on Sunday when they travel to Alfred looking to surpass the Saxons in the Empire 8 Conference standings in a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m.  Tomorrow's games complete Fisher's regular season schedule.