WEEHAWKEN, N.J. – In a battle of the top two teams in the Empire 8 Conference, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team needed 10 innings before it took both ends of an Empire 8 doubleheader at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday as the Cardinals remained unblemished in conference play.  Fisher improved to 19-7 with the sweep and moved to 6-0 in the Empire 8 while the Ducks, who had entered Saturday riding a 15-game winning streak, fell to 17-9 overall and 10-2 against conference opponents.  

FISHER 1, STEVENS 0

Senior pitcher Lindsey Thayer netted her 12th win of the season after holding the Ducks scoreless over seven innings of work.  Thayer surrendered seven hits and tallied 10 strikeouts as the Winthrop native pitched her fifth consecutive scoreless outing as she has not yielded a run over her last 30.1 innings.

Fisher scored what turned out to be the lone run of the game in the top of the first as Emily Trotman ripped the first pitch of the game down the left field line for a single.  Katie Mazierski followed suit with a bunt single of her own before Sammie Torlish lined an RBI-single to left to give the Cardinals a 1-0 edge.

The lead would remain in Fisher's hands heading into the later innings, however, Stevens made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh after the first two batters reached courtesy of an infield error and a single to left.
 
After moving the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, Stevens was poised to potentially win the game with a base knock, but Thayer got the next hitter to strike out before squeezing the final out with a pop up to escape the jam.

As a team, Fisher managed five hits in all.  Marissa Kirker produced a double while Trotman, Mazierski, Torlish and Mary Claire Grosvenor each owned a single in the win.

FISHER 2, STEVENS 0

Thayer, the reigning Empire 8 Pitcher of the Week, was called upon again in the nightcap and didn't disappoint.  The right-hander won her 13th game of the season and held Stevens off the board through 10 innings.  She allowed just three hits and fanned 11 in the win.  With her effort, Thayer has now thrown 40.1 scoreless innings.

Neither team was able to break through in nine innings of play as the two teams combined for just six hits to that point.  With international rules in play, Fisher placed Trotman at second base in the top of the 10th before Kirker moved her to third with a sac bunt.  The Ducks were able to get the next hitter to line out, but couldn't retire the side unscathed as Sarah Kubik blasted a two-run home run to left center to lift the Cardinals to the win.
 
Fisher will go for two more wins in conference play beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday when they take on the Soaring Eagles in Elmira.