The St. John Fisher College softball team fell in the Empire 8 Conference title game to Ithaca College on Sunday in a heartbreaking seventh inning loss. Fisher beat Ithaca earlier in the day, 4-3, to hold onto the opportunity to take the title, but fell short in the final inning of game two.

Ithaca will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and Fisher will need an at-large bid to enter the tournament, which will be announced tomorrow at 1 p.m. during the Selection Show.

Game 1: Fisher 4, Ithaca 3

Julia Sortisio opened up the bottom of the first with a leadoff double to left center, and after a walk from Katie Mazierski, Jennifer Knaak would serve an RBI single to give Fisher its first run on the board. Two batters later Genevive Paeglow sent a single to left field, scoring Knaak and putting Fisher ahead 2-0 in just the first inning.

The Bombers would tack on an unearned run in the second, shortening the Fisher lead to just one, but in the third Fisher would find home plate again, this time Mazierski scoring on a wild pitch.

Neither team would score until the fifth inning with Knaak at the plate again with runners on base, hitting an RBI double, sending Mazierski home for her second run of the game.

Ithaca threatened a comeback in the top of the sixth sending a two-run home run over the fence to put the bombers within one of the Cardinals. Pitcher Lindsey Thayer nailed two strikeouts in the top of the seventh and Karlie Neale caught the final out of the game on a high foul ball to secure the win for Fisher.

Thayer pitched 16 total strikeouts, while Knaak led with two hits.

 Game 2: Ithaca 3, Fisher 2

The Cardinals endured a heartbreaking loss in the seventh inning on a walk-off two-run single for  the Bombers.

Neither team would score until the sixth inning when both Sortisio and Mazierski reached home plate on errors from the Bombers, putting Fisher ahead 2-0 going into the seventh.

Thayer pitched six no-hit innings before Ithaca bombed four hits for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the win in game seven and the Empire 8 Conference Title.

Thayer dealt 11 strikeouts for the Cardinals, while Sortisio led the team with two hits.

The Cardinals will look to receive an at-large bid in the NCAA Division III selection show tomorrow.