PITTSFORD, N.Y. – In a battle of two top 25 teams, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team came out on top as the No. 9 Cardinals swept the No. 24 Ithaca College Bombers on Saturday at the Softball Complex.  With the wins, Fisher improved to 10-6 overall while the Bombers fell to 9-5.

FISHER 4, ITHACA 2

After working around trouble in the top of the first inning, Fisher came through in the bottom of the frame as Julia Sortisio walked and moved into scoring position when Sammie Torlish lined a base hit to left.  Two batters later, Ashley Prince reached on an Ithaca error as Sortisio scampered home to stake the Cardinals to a 1-0 edge.

In the top of the third, Ithaca knotted the game at one run apiece after belting a leadoff homer, but Fisher countered in the bottom of the fourth with two runs on two hits and two errors to hold a two-run cushion, 3-1.  Jill Murray reached on an error and moved to second when Marissa Kirker singled to left.  With two on and two outs, Emily Trotman smacked a big two-run double to left center before the Bombers could retire the side.

Fisher tacked on another run in the fifth inning as Sarah Kubik, who had led off the inning with a single to left, came around to score on a fielder's choice by Murray to make it 4-1 heading to the sixth.

After a scoreless sixth, Ithaca made things interesting in the seventh after blasting back-to-back doubles to cut the Cardinals' lead to 4-2, but senior Pitcher Lindsey Thayer got the next hitter to groundout to first as the Cardinals picked up the important regional win.

Thayer moved to 6-3 with the win after throwing a complete game where she allowed two runs over seven innings and scattered five hits while notching 13 strikeouts overall.

FISHER 6, ITHACA 5

The Cardinals ran into trouble in the top of the first as Ithaca loaded the bases before an out had been made.  Monica Moses settled in, however, and limited the damage to two runs before capping the inning with a strikeout.
Fisher answered in the home half of the inning as Kubik launched a two-run shot that plated Trotman in the process to tie the contest at 2-2.

The momentum would shift back in Ithaca's favor in the second and third innings as the Bombers came away with two more runs including a solo shot to hold a 4-2 lead.  Not to be outdone, Fisher stormed back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the third to take a 5-4 lead.  Trotman got the ball rolling with a one out single and advanced to second when Sortisio walked.  Torlish stepped in and ripped a run-scoring double to right center before Mary Claire Grosvenor drove in a pair with a base knock to center to put the home team ahead by a run.

Both teams continued to trade zeroes until the Bombers tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the seventh with a solo home run, but Fisher continued to show its resiliency as Ashley Prince connected with a 3-1 pitch for a double to right to set the Cardinals up.  Grosvenor moved Prince to third with a groundout to set the stage for Maddie Klidonas as the freshman swung at the first pitch she saw and connected for a walk off single to right and her first-career RBI to lift the Cardinals to a 6-5 victory.

Moses went four innings and allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits and did not factor in the decision.  Thayer pitched the final three frames in relief and earned her seventh win of the season and second of the afternoon after yielding one run on one hit with four strikeouts. 

St. John Fisher will be back in action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday when it travels to Houghton to take on the Highlanders in an Empire 8 doubleheader.