Utica, NY - After defeating Keuka in the Empire 8 first round, the Utica College softball team will now take on top-seeded St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 semifinal round. First pitch will be at 11 a.m. from the St. John Fisher Softball Complex. The semifinal round begins the double-elimination format. A win will give the Pioneers a chance to rest up before playing on Thursday while a loss would send UC to the elimination game at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. 
 
Follow Along: Fans can watch all the action by following https://bit.ly/2HB1Fes or keep up with live stats by following https://bit.ly/3hg4u4Y. 
 
Last Time Out: UC took to the road and defeated Keuka College 9-1 in five innings on Saturday to advance in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. The Wolves jumped on the board first with one run in the 1st inning before Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) found her rhythm. She tossed all five innings allowing the lone run in the 1st inning while surrendering four hits. The Pioneers' offense was held in check until the 4th inning when they took a 2-1 lead on a Madison Akots (Wynantskill, NY/Emma Willard School) RBI single to bring home Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) from third. Joss tripled home Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School) during the previous at-bat to even the game. Utica then put up seven runs in the 5th inning which ended the game via the eight-run rule after five innings. Erica Sanford (Boonvile, NY/Adirondack) finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs while Akots finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. 
 
Tournament History: Utica is 8-12 all-time in Empire 8 Tournament play with its last win coming in 2018 when the team defeated Alfred to advance to the championship game where they eventually fell to Fisher. UC has made two other trips to the E8 Championship game; once in 2013 where they lost to Fisher and once in 2006 where Ithaca defeated the Pioneers. Utica is 2-6 against Fisher in tournament play with wins coming in 2006 and 2013. Against Alfred, the Pioneers are 3-2 all-time while Sage has yet to play in an E8 tournament game. 
 
Scouting Fisher: The Cardinals (25-3, 19-1 E8) enter as the top seed in the tournament while also being ranked the number one team in the northeast rankings. UC lost both games to Fisher on April 18 in five innings (9-1 and 11-1). Fisher ranks first in the E8 with a team average of .341, and team ERA of 1.38 and a .967 overall fielding percentage. They average nearly seven runs per game while also topping the conference with 23 home runs. Emily Trotman has done it all for the Cardinals as she leads the team with a .473 batting average, 43 hits and six home runs while also posting a 1.30 ERA, .96 WHIP and 46 strikeouts in 14 games in the circle. 
 
Sage Report: The Gators (16-4, 16-4 E8) come into the postseason as the second-seed in the tournament. They took all four games against the Pioneers this season while it took extra innings to win two of those games. Arianna Papas (.551) and Taylor Dicranian (.520) finished as the top-two hitters in the E8 on a team that posted a collective .335 average at the plate while scoring nearly seven runs per game. Dicranian (14-2, 3.30 ERA) finished second in the conference in wins and seventh in ERA. She pitched 72 percent of the innings for the Gators this season. 
A Look at Alfred: The Saxons (28-8, 15-5 E8) enter the tournament as the three-seed while having split its only series with UC on April 10. Alfred ranks second in the conference with a .337 average, 2.05 ERA and a .960 fielding percentage. Ashley Lugo (.411) and Alyssa Guitron (.404) both finished top-10 in the conference in batting average as well as finishing one-and-two in overall hits. Jessica Wilcox (15-3, 1.32 ERA) led the conference with 15 wins, 208 strikeouts and finished second with a 1.32 ERA. Her 208 strikeouts are 109 ahead of the second most in the conference while also placing her in the top-five in all of Division III softball. Alfred runs freely on the bases as well, finishing 108-for-117 on stolen base opportunities while attempting 70 more stolen bases than Elmira, who attempted the second most stolen bases in the conference (47). 

Up Next: A win on Tuesday would keep the Pioneers in the winners' bracket to play the winner of Sage/Alfred on Thursday. With a loss, UC would have to play the loser of Sage/Alfred at 4 p.m. on Tuesday for a chance to advance to Thursday.