ALFRED, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher softball team split a key Empire 8 Conference doubleheader against Alfred University on Thursday at Harrington Field.
The Cardinals (18-11, 10-2 Empire 8) fell 7-6 in eight innings to the Saxons (18-6, 9-3 Empire 8) in the first game. They won the second game 9-5 behind sophomore Taylor Shackleton's three-RBI performance.
Game 1: St. John Fisher 6, Alfred 7
Senior shortstop Amalia DeMartino drove in three runs, two on a double to right and one on a single to left, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings.
Alfred plated a pair of runs in the bottom half of the third to make it 5-2 and slowly took control of the ballgame from there. After senior Tori LoPresto drove in her second run of the game with a single to put the Cardinals ahead 6-2 in the fifth inning, the Saxons scored five unanswered runs to steal the ballgame from Fisher.
The Saxons scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth, one in the sixth and tied the game in the seventh on Paris Guzman's RBI double. They walked the Cardinals off in the eighth inning when Jessica Remm, who drove in four runs in the game, ripped a double to left center that scored Samantha Vidal from first. Vidal reached base on a fielding error moments earlier.
Game 2: St. John Fisher 9, Alfred 5
The Cardinals responded in the second game with a 9-5 victory in which they had 13 hits and pounded a pair of home runs.
Shackleton got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning, blasting a homer to left center after senior Maddie Donlin drew a one-out walk. DeMartino made it 3-0 a few batters later with a single to left that scored McManus from second.
Alfred scored twice in the bottom of the first, but the Cardinals came back with two more of their own in the second inning. Shackleton pushed one across on a sacrifice fly to center, and Spitz drew a walk with the bases loaded to extend Fisher's lead to 5-2.
Senior Katie Mannis belted her third home run of the week with one out in the top of the third. Junior Madi Rose came across to score later in the inning on a wild pitch, giving Fisher a comfortable 7-2 lead.
The Cardinals scored their final two runs of the fourth, with the first coming across when senior Cassidy Evanetski was hit by a pitch and the second scoring on Donlin's bases-loaded walk.
Senior Cassidy Ormond earned credit for her ninth pitching victory of the season. She allowed five runs (four earned) on 13 hits and no walks while striking out five batters in seven innings.
Up Next
The Cardinals face Brockport at 1 and 3 p.m. on Friday at the SJF Softball Complex.
