ITHACA, N.Y. (May 4, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team dropped two close Empire 8 Tournament games to St. John Fisher College and Alfred University on Friday. Stevens came out on the short side of the highest-scoring game in E8 tournament history against the Cardinals, losing 11-8 in game one before falling in a 5-4 back-and-forth battle with Alfred in the second game.

Game One

It was a big first inning for the Ducks. Danielle DeFeo (Andover, N.J.) led off with a single up the middle, followed by a sac bunt and a single the other way off the bat of Jamie DeGennaro (Pearl River, N.Y.) to put runners on the corners. Clair Strom (El Paso, Texas) was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs and facing an 0-2 count, Noreen Jordan (Orangeburg, N.Y.) hit a linedrive over the shortstop's head to drive in the first run of the afternoon. Sarah Parker (Fredricksburg, Va.) then tested the Fisher secondbaseman, who fielded the grounder but had her throw to first sail high and allow two more Ducks to come around and make the score 3-0.

Fisher got one back in the bottom half of the second, using a pair of bloop singles to get a run across to make the score 3-1 after two full innings.

A bases-clearing triple by Carissa Carlson (Little Genesee, N.Y.) highlighted a six-run outburst by Fisher in the third inning, giving the Cardinals a 7-3 advantage through three in what turned into a high-scoring game.

Stevens answered with one run in the fourth. Kendel Aurand (McVeytown, Pa.) reached on an error, DeFeo singled and DeGennaro came through with another RBI single to the opposite field to cut the Cardinal cushion to three.

Fisher continued to put runs on the board, however, scoring two in the fourth to push their lead to 9-4.
Stephanie Senkevich (Washington, N.Y.) got Stevens right back in the game with a big three-run opposite-field homerun that made the score 9-7 in the sixth inning. Then, Parker tripled to rightfield with two outs, and the Cardinal shortstop could not handle a hot smash off the bat of Noelle Mulligan (Staten Island, N.Y.) and the Ducks scored another tally.

The Cardinals struck back again in the home half of the sixth, scoring two more insurance runs to have the scoreboard read 11-8 entering the seventh inning. Fisher finally put an end to the war of attrition and held on for the game one victory.

DeFeo, DeGennaro and Parker each had three hits to lead the Stevens offensive attack.

Stevens has made history in the first game of both of their Empire 8 Championship appearances: Friday's first game marked the highest-scoring game in Empire 8 postseason play with 19 total runs scored, breaking the record set in 2010 with a 12-5 Ithaca win over Alfred in the championship game. Last season, the Ducks fell to the Bombers 4-3 in 13 innings in what is still the longest game in tournament history.

Game Two

Alfred University, batting first in game two, loaded the bases with one out. Parker saved two runs with a fantastic running catch in the left-centerfield gap, but the Saxons did score a pair in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.

Stevens got back on the scoreboard with a run in the second: Strom and Jordan had basehits and Parker drove in Strom with a sac fly to left to cut the Alfred lead in half.

The Saxons scored again in the third, pushing the cushion back to two runs.

In the fourth, an Alfred runner was trying to score with two outs. Parker fired home from center and Strom blocked the plate, then did well to stay with the play and apply the tag to end the frame as the runner slid past home and tried to crawl back to touch the dish.

Stevens answered another Saxon run in the fifth with a big rally of its own. Mulligan led off with a single trough the right side, and with two outs Aurand singled through nearly the same spot to drive in Mulligan. DeGennaro then launched a line drive over the rightfielder's head to score the speedy Aurand and make the score 4-3. Strom followed that with a clutch double down the leftfield line that tied the game at four-all and chased Samantha Jo Muller (Port Jervis, N.Y.) from the circle.

Mulligan was thrown out attempting to score the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on a wild pitch, and Alfred instead took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh. Stevens could not come up with the tying run and fell in Game Two.

Senior Sarah Parker was named to the All-Empire 8 Tournament team.

This concludes the 2012 season for the softball program. The Ducks finish their third varsity season 17-24 and in the postseason for the second consecutive year.

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