ITHACA, N.Y. – A winner-take-all duel will take place on Saturday afternoon, May 15 at 2 p.m. as the Ithaca College softball program heads to the University of Rochester to play in the Liberty League Championship game at Southside Field.

Ithaca will bring a 25-7 record up to Rochester on Saturday, while the nationally ranked No. 20 Yellowjackets are 30-8.

The top two teams in the Liberty League earned their way to the title game by virtue of semifinal victories on Wednesday. Ithaca defeated RPI, 2-0, at Kostrinsky Field, while Rochester topped Skidmore, 4-0.

Saturday's championship matchup can be viewed via webcast and live stats.

Ithaca and Rochester split the four-game season series this year on April 17-18. In Rochester on the 17th, the Yellowjackets took the opener, 7-3, but IC secured the split with a 7-4 win in game two. On South Hill the following afternoon, the Bombers took a 9-5 victory in game one, but UR answered with a 1-0 shutout.

Since 2004, Ithaca owns an overall series record of 18-12 against Rochester.

Ithaca heads into Saturday's final as the two-time defending Liberty League champions, as the Bombers won in 2018 and 2019. Rochester has won four league titles – 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The winner on Saturday will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.

The NCAA Selection Show will take place on May 17 at 1 p.m.

SEMIFINAL BREAKDOWN:

ITHACA VS. RPI – The story of the semifinal at Kostrinsky Field was IC's Beth Fleming. The senior hurler tossed her second no-hitter of the season, and the 18th in program history, with seven strikeouts to three walks in a 2-0 victory. Fleming recently threw a no-hitter against Skidmore in a five-inning 9-0 win on May 8.

Fleming walked a pair of runners in the top of the first but left unscathed after a fly out, groundout and strikeout. She retired the Engineers in order in the second but issued a lead-off walk in the third before retiring the next three hitters. From there, Fleming faced the minimum and struck out four more batters along the way.

Offensively, IC faced a tough counterpart in RPI's Alexis Cooke. The Bombers managed to record just one hit off Cooke in 5.0 innings and struck out seven times. RPI changed pitchers in the sixth and Ithaca cashed in two runs off a pair of Engineer errors to earn the victory.

Gabby Laccona and Allison Dell'Orto notched the two hits for Ithaca.

ROCHESTER VS. SKIDMORE – Rochester and Skidmore played to four scoreless innings before Rochester scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, which resulted in the final score, 4-0.

Skidmore had an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the fourth as the Thoroughbreds loaded the bases on a walk, single and hit by pitch with no outs. Skidmore was unable to push a run across home as UR recorded two strikeouts and a fielder's choice to get out of the jam.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Rochester loaded the bases on a walk, single and hit by pitch with one out. A bases loaded free pass to Jen Carson brought home Alexis Klee to make the score 1-0. After a strikeout, Toni Anne Hahn cleared the bases with a double to left field.

Hannah Leahy picked up her 13th win in the circle for UR as she struck out six batters, with two walks, and allowed five hits in 7.0 innings pitched.

Sammi Re accounted for two of Rochester's five hits in the game.