The St. John Fisher College softball team kept it bats hot on Saturday, as the Cardinals opened Empire 8 play with consecutive 8-0 shutouts over Stevens Institute of Technology.  Fisher won Saturday's first meeting in five innings, while the second game took just one more, finishing in six.  The Cardinals are now 10-7 on the season and 2-0 in the conference.  Stevens falls to 2-17, 0-4.

Game One: Fisher 8, Stevens 0 (5 innings)

The Cardinals took game one in spectacular fashion, crossing the plate eight times in the fifth inning. More impressively, the team was able to pick up the mercy-rule win by posting all eight runs with two outs on the board.

With the bases loaded, Lindsey Holtz was patient at the plate and forced Stevens' Herforth to walk in the game's first run.  A field error then allowed two more to cross for Fisher and kept the inning going.  After an RBI from Meghan Burns and two from both Jessie Smyrski and Kayla Goodberlet, Sarah Fordyce ended the game with a single the burned the right field line and scored Goodberlet.

The Cardinals posted six of their 10 hits in the inning.  Danielle Leone pitched all five innings for Fisher, striking out four and walking zero in the shutout.

Jessica D'Angelo and Goodberlet were both 2-for-3 from the plate, while seven Cardinals connected in the game.

Game Two: Fisher 8, Stevens 0 (6 innings)

It didn't take as long for the Cardinals to get on the scoreboard in game two.  After Burns, the lead-off batter, reached successfully, Goodberlet tripled to right center to score Burns in the opening inning.

Fisher added to that lead in the third on a two RBI homer over the center field wall from Fordyce.  Holtz posted the next Cardinal run on a four-bagger as well, making it 4-0 after the fourth inning.

The home team hoped to end the game in five innings again, but could only muster three runs in the fifth, forcing a sixth to be played.  However, it didn't take long for that run to come as Burns, again, led off with a hit and Smyrski doubled her in for the walk-off.

D'Angelo's first home run of the year accounted for all three of the Cardinals' fifth inning runs, as she brought in Goodberlet and Leanne Merchant with her bomb.

Sarah Stefanon earned her fourth-straight win from the circle, striking out 11 of 25 batters faced.

Fisher will return to action Sunday at 1 p.m., hosting Elmira College in a doubleheader.