ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked Ithaca College softball team took both ends of an Empire 8 doubleheader with Houghton College on Friday afternoon as the Bombers outscored the visiting Highlanders, 17-1, to remain unbeaten against conference competition.  With the wins, Ithaca, which is ranked 21st in the latest national poll, moved to 18-6 overall and 6-0 in Empire 8 play while Houghton falls to 0-8 in the conference standings and 5-19 overall.

Ithaca 8, Houghton 0 (five innings)

Behind five scoreless inning from senior pitcher Laura Quicker, the Bombers blanked the Highlanders, 8-0, in five innings of play.  Quicker allowed just two hits in all and struck out two to earn her ninth win in the circle. 

The Bombers scored two runs in the bottom of the first after Vanessa Brown and Alex Wright lined RBI singles into center field to give Ithaca a 2-0 advantage.  After holding the Highlanders scoreless in the top of the second, Ithaca would add to its lead with three more runs on three hits in the home half of the frame to hold a 5-0 lead.

Emily Bloom got things started when she singled to left and moved around the bases after stealing second and taking third on a wild pitch.  The sophomore would eventually score after another wild pitch by Houghton allowed her to scurry home to make it 3-0, Ithaca.  As the inning continued, Brown would tally her second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly that plated Allie Colleran who had also earned her way on base with a walk while Wright drove in Nikkey Skuraton with an RBI infield single.

The Bombers would score two more runs in the fourth before Brown lifted a bloop single with the bases loaded in the fifth inning that scored Jessie Fleck to give IC the 8-0 decision. 

Ithaca 9, Houghton 1 (six innings)

Allison Macari fooled Houghton's hitters through six innings after the senior allowed just one hit – a solo homerun in the fourth inning – en route to her fourth win of the season.  Macari struck out seven overall.

Ithaca put the Highlanders in a four-run hole in the second inning with the big blow coming in the form of a three-run triple by Skuraton that scored Fleck, Hannah Anderson and Kelly Robichaud.  Ithaca would add to its lead in the third inning as Erin McQuillan dunked a single into shallow center field that drove in Robichaud to make it 5-0 in the home team's favor.

Houghton answered in the fourth inning with its only run of the afternoon after belting a solo homerun to make it 5-1, but the Bombers proved to be too much at the plate, scoring a run in the fifth and sixth innings to earn the eight-run win, 9-1.

Head coach Deb Pallozzi's squad will return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday when they face Alfred in a critical Empire 8 twin-billing at Kostrinsky Field.  Ithaca fell in the Empire 8 Championship to the Saxons last season as Alfred played its way into the NCAA Division III World Series.