Box Score Utica College 6, St. John Fisher 4 - Empire 8 Softball Tournament



Utica, NY (5/4/13)- The Utica College softball team used two two-run home runs to top visiting St. John Fisher College 6-4 Saturday afternoon in the championship round of the Empire 8 Tournament.  UC will take on Fisher again Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the deciding game of the tournament.  The winner will win the E8 Championship and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. 

UC was held scoreless for the first two innings and fell into an early 1-0 hole but the Pioneers responded in the top half of the third when Bridgette Plummer (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) and Courtney Fitzgerald (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) drove in runs on back-to-back at-bats to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game, 2-1.

Fisher knotted the score at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning, but the Pioneers tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth, by way of Chelsea Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown)'s 10th home run of the season, to take a 4-2 lead. Monroe is now tied with Fitzgerald and former UC star Abby Drew for first place on the school's single season home run list with ten.  Fisher once again came right back with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Mallory Ingalls (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) drilled a two-run shot, scoring Sarah Kinney (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer), in the top of the fifth inning to give the Pioneers a 6-3 advantage.  Ingalls' blast was her career-best seventh of the season.

Fisher threatened the UC lead in the bottom of the sixth as Sarah Fordyce hit a huge solo home run to bring the score to 6-4, however the Pioneer defense was able to hold on for the win.

Freshman Abby Monroe (Watertown, NY/General Brown) struck out six and gave up eight hits in her second win of the day.  She is now tied with class of 2013 Hall of Famer Bobbie McMail for most wins in a season (19).  Meanwhile, Erica Colucci (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) did not allow a hit in the final inning as she picked up her third save of the year. 

Plummer was Utica's top batter, going 2-for-4, while Dominique Carcone (Frankfort, NY/New Hartford), Alysa Russell (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville), and Cassie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) also added one hit apiece.

St. John Fisher's Sarah Stefanon struck out nine in seven innings to move to 20-5 on the season.  Fordyce finished with two hits and three runs scored to lead the Cardinals. 

The Pioneers move to 33-11 on the season, marking the most wins in program history.   They look to win their first Empire 8 championship in school history on Sunday. 



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