ROCHESTER, NY- The Utica College softball team fell in the Empire 8 Conference championship game to top-seed and No. 6 ranked St. John Fisher College 12-1 Sunday.
 
The Pioneers, who were making their third appearance in the E8 championship game, finished the season 20-18 overall, including going 14-4 in their final 18 games.  This is the fifth time in the last seven years that UC has won at least 20 games in a season.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when tournament MVP Sarah Kubik hit a two-run homer to center field.
 
The Pioneers responded in the second inning as senior Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) hit a sacrifice bunt that drove in Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) to bring the Pioneers within one.  The score remained the same in the third inning before the Cardinals capitalized on a Utica error with another two-run home run.
 
St. John Fisher broke the game open in the fourth inning with eight runs to pick up its second straight Empire 8 Conference title.
 
Jacqueline Aronin (Naugatuck, CT/Naugatuck High School) had the lone hit on the day for Utica.
 
The Pioneers will bid farewell to seniors Sabrina Stransky (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), Dominique Soto (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich), and Kimberly Beattie (Levitton, NY/Division Ave).  The class of 2018 helped lead Utica to two conference tournaments and its first E8 championship game since 2013.