Mansfield, Conn. - The Ithaca softball team defeated St. John Fisher 8-0 in five innings in an NCAA Division III Softball Tournament elimination game Saturday afternoon at the Willimantic, Conn. Regional hosted by Eastern Connecticut. The Bombers will face the host Eastern Connecticut Warriors, ranked second nationally, in another elimination game Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Ithaca scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on five hits, and all three runs came in on two-out hits. Leadoff hitter Francesca Busa reached on a single and advanced to third, but junior Molly O'Donnell delivered a triple to the right-center field fence to bring home Busa. Junior designated player Jennifer Biondi followed with a single to left field that scored O'Donnell, and she eventually came in to score on a single by freshman Monica Capolongo.

Infield defense came through for Ithaca in the top of the third inning as St. John Fisher had two runners on base, Busa reached behind her to grab a line drive at shortstop and sophomore second baseman Julianne Vincent grabbed another liner to end the inning and preserve the Bombers' 3-0 lead.

Ithaca added five runs in the fourth on four hits, and all of the runs were unearned. After the first two hitters reached on errors with one out, Busa singled up the middle to bring home junior Lindsey Johnson, and Vincent's hard single through the left side brought in junior Adrienne Walters. Sophomore Sydney Folk singled to bring in Vincent and sophomore Rachel Dell'Orto drove in two more with a bases-loaded single.

Sophomore Sam Bender picked up her second win of the tournament and 18th of the season with four scoreless innings and allowed three hits and two walks. Sophomore Jillian Olmstead worked a scoreless fifth inning to close out the game.

The Bombers (32-13) finished with a 5-1 record in six games against Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher this season.

Box Score and Play-by-Play