PITTSFORD, N.Y. – For the first time in program history, the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team will enter the postseason as the Empire 8's top-seeded team as the Cardinals host Stevens Institute of Technology, Utica College and Alfred University in the 2018 Empire 8 Softball Championship at The Softball Complex.  The action begins at 1 p.m. on Friday as second-seeded Stevens takes on third-seeded Utica before the top-seeded Cardinals, who jumped three spots to sixth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, host fourth-seeded Alfred at 3:30 p.m.

Fans unable to make the trip to Pittsford, can still follow all of the action using the links below: Tickets will be sold at the facility and cost $5 for general admission (Children 12 and under are free) and $3 for students and seniors with a valid ID.

THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Although in the case it's almost unbelievable.  Friday will mark the first time in the history of the Empire 8 Championship that Fisher has been the top overall seed and hosted the event.  The Cardinals have secured the second seed seven times since 2002 and have qualified for the championship 16 times with an overall record of 36-25.  Fisher has won the Empire 8 Championship a total of five times and will enter Friday as the defending champion having bested Ithaca in 2017.

LINDSEY "K"-ER: One thing about being so dominant is that it often gets lost in the shuffle as to how great you really are.  Senior pitcher Lindsey Thayer has been so good over her four-year career that what she does isn't surprising anymore.  Whether it's pitching a perfect game, or striking or 21 in a seven inning game, we've almost come to expect these things.  However, she's in sight of one record that you can't take for granted.  Entering Friday's game, Thayer sits just 24 strikeouts away from breaking the all-time Division III mark for career strikeouts.  Currently, the record is held by Hayley Feindel who pitched for Coast Guard from 2009-12 and notched 1,457 career Ks in 1,029.7 innings.  Thayer currently sits at 1,434, but has needed only 817.2 career innings to do it.  If form holds true, she could set the record on Saturday, but who knows – maybe she'll somehow strikeout 24 on Friday and save you the anticipation.

FRESHMEN PHENOMS: On a team full of veterans, it's always helpful to have freshmen that can immediately impact the team's success.  Fisher has four freshmen that have stood out through the Cardinals' first 34 games.  Sammie Torlish currently leads the team in batting average (.374) and ranks fourth in the Empire 8 with 40 hits and 27 RBI.  Emily Trotman has also provided a big spark for head coach Bari Mance as the East Amherst native ranks third on the roster among qualifying players with a .348 batting average to go along with 32 hits, 16 runs scored, seven doubles and 18 RBI.  Megan Kreger (.359, 3 doubles) and Maddie Klidonas (.286, 11 runs, nine RBI) have also come up big in clutch moments so far this season.

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: It's obviously helpful when you're playing your best entering the postseason and Fisher is definitely firing on all cylinders.  Entering the championship, the Cardinals have posted 12 straight wins and are outscoring their opposition, 66-6.  Since the streak began on April 13th, Fisher is hitting .364 as a team and has held its opponents to a .146 batting average.  Fisher, which has actually come out on top in 19 of its last 20 games, has boomed 123 hits during its winning streak including 33 extra base knocks.  During the stretch, no one has been hotter than Mary Claire Grosvenor as the junior catcher is hitting .607 over her last 12 games with 17 hits, six doubles, three home runs and nine RBI.  Grosvenor is slugging 1.143 dating back to April 13th and owns a .621 on-base percentage. 

THE HIT QUEEN: Senior Katie Mazierski has turned in another strong season in 2018 despite missing two weeks to injury.  To date, Mazierski is hitting .471 over 22 games with 33 hits and a team-leading nine stolen bases.  The North Tonawanda native became just the fourth player in program history to surpass 200 career hits after beating out an infield single on April 24th in a sweep of The Sage Colleges.  Entering Friday's action, Mazierski has authored 209 career hits and owns a .416 batting average.  She needs just seven hits to break the Empire 8 record for career hits and sits just 14 behind Jen Wilder's program mark of 223 hits.

SCOUTING STEVENS: The Ducks earned the second overall seed after finishing with an 11-3 mark in conference play.  Stevens, which enters play riding a three-game winning streak, ranks fifth in the Empire 8 in team batting average at .294, however, the team's strong suit is in its pitching.  Over 32 games the Ducks own the second-lowest earned run average in the conference at 2.29 and have held opponents to a .244 batting average. 

Corinne Loncar has been the driving force behind the team's offense all season with a .381 batting average to go along with 40 hits, seven doubles and 26 RBI.  Lauren Shirley is hitting .360 through 25 games while Samantha Schattin hits .349.  Madison Gemma leads the team with nine doubles.  In the circle, Marissa Cappello is 11-2 with a 1.64 ERA while Christine LaRochelle is 9-4 with a 1.69 earned run average over 99.1 innings of work. 
 
SCOUTING UTICA: The Pioneers had been sitting high on a 12-game winning streak prior to facing the Cardinals last weekend.  As it is, Utica earned the third seed with a 10-4 mark in the Empire 8 standings.  The team ranked second behind only Fisher with a .339 batting average while its 188 RBI and 199 runs scored led all conference teams.  Despite its offensive capabilities, Utica has had a hard time recording outs as the team owns a 3.94 earned run average.

Entering the weekend, Utica has three players ranked in the top four in the conference in batting average led by Nicole Rice.  Rice is hitting .466 and leads the conference with 54 hits.  Jamie Miller is hitting .433 while Sabrina Stransky is hitting .372 with a team-leading nine doubles, six homers and 30 RBI.

SCOUTING ALFRED: The fourth overall seed in this year's field, Alfred is led by Jamie Wilcox, who was named the Empire 8 Pitcher of the Week on Monday. The sophomore has been stellar this season in the circle at 10-8 with a 1.91 era.  Wilcox recently set a new record at Alfred with 136 strikeouts this season.  Shannon Schaefer also has 10 wins to her name and sports a 2.76 earned run average over 104.0 innings.

Haley Powers leads the Saxons with a .387 batting average to go along with 43 hits, 11 doubles, four homers and 24 RBI while Jillian Murray hits .375 over 33 games so far this year.  Lu Krawczyk and Trisha Whaley are hitting .340 and .329, respectively with Krawczyk leading her team with eight stolen bags.