ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT softball team (8-12) dropped both non-conference contests against local foe, No. 20 St. John Fisher (19-5) on Thursday afternoon from sunny Tiger Stadium. The Tigers fell in game one, 4-0, on the strength of a record performance by St. John Fisher ace, Lindsey Thayer, 4-0, and came up just short in a 6-5 defeat in game two.
Thayer picked up her 11th victory in record fashion in game one, allowing just two hits and striking out 20 batters in the complete game effort, the most in a single-game in St. John Fisher history. Her counterpart,
Lauren Mahar (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont), tallied five strikeouts in the decision, going a full seven innings.
After St. John Fisher took the early lead in the second, the Tigers had a chance to get an early run in the bottom of the frame.
Sam Killian (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) showed great poise at the plate, drawing a walk to get the Tigers on the basepaths.
Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey) then singled through the right side to put runners on first and second with one out before Thayer struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
That would be the start of 11 straight strikeouts by Lindsey Thayer before a one-out single by
McKenzie Martin (Deposit, NY/Deposit) in the sixth. Thayer entered the game with 149 strikeouts to just six walks in 77 innings pitched this season. All 12 of her starts in 2016 have been complete games.
Game two was a back and forth affair. This time, it was RIT who grabbed the early advantage. After Killian got on in the second inning with a single,
Alexandria Lunderman (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) ripped a one out single to left field, scoring Killian from third base. In the next frame, the Cardinals took the lead, scoring two unearned runs to grab the 2-1 advantage. The Tigers rallied back in the bottom of the frame. After Martin led off with a walk, and
Emily Shoemaker (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) reached base with a single, Killian brought both runners home with a double into deep center field off Cardinals pitcher Monica Moses, taking the 3-2 lead.
In the fifth inning, St. John Fisher struck back, getting two runs to retake the 4-3 lead. The Cardinals then added two insurance runs in the sixth inning. Down to their last at-bats, the Tigers tried to stage one final rally. A wild pitch brought
Alexa Farner (Gowanda, NY/Gownanda) home, reducing the deficit to two. Two batters later,
Tori Blaker (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post West) brought home Martin with a single, as
Danielle Hotz (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) advanced to scoring position at second. With the hot hitting Killian at the plate, Moses forced Killian to ground to the shortstop, who made a great play getting Hotz out at third base.
Killian, Lunderman and Farner each supplied two of the Tigers 10 hits in game two. Martin, Shoemaker, Hotz, and Blaker each tallied a hit. On the mound,
Sierra Valentine (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) struck out five batters in the complete game effort.
Ashley Prince went 3-for-4, and Jennifer Knaak drove in two runs to lead the Cardinals. Moses picked up her first victory of the season, striking out seven batters in seven innings.
The Tigers will return to Liberty League play this weekend, starting with a Saturday doubleheader against Clarkson at home, with game one at 1 p.m.
