The softball team bounced back from two non-conference split doubleheaders this week with a sweep over Empire 8 rival Utica College today at Kostrinsky Field.

The Bombers outscored the Pioneers 23–1 in the two games. With the wins, the Blue and Gold clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Tournament Championship, which begins May 8.

“That’s the best way to do it,” junior Kait Dolan said. “The second we get on the board first, we just play with the confidence that we have and play more relaxed.”

In game one of the doubleheader, junior Allison Greaney took the hill. She threw a complete-game one-hit shutout — the fourth one hit ballgame she’s thrown this season. Greaney threw just 50 pitches in the 58-minute game to improve to 9–1.

While the Bombers saw excellent work on the mound, their dominant bats came alive as well. The Blue and Gold got on the board quickly and didn’t let up. In the bottom of the fourth, already up 3–0, Dolan hit a two-run single with the bases loaded followed by a two-run double by junior Kerry Barger to go up 7–0. Freshman Molly O’Donnell hit a three-run home run to go up 10–0 and put the eight-run rule in effect.

“I think that’s most of it, just keeping us all fresh,” senior Alyssa Brook said. “It’s kind of a mood killer when you kill people in five innings and you get that many runs. Everybody hits. It wasn’t just one or two people contributing.”

In the second game, the Bombers once again scored early, taking a 2–0 lead into the bottom of the first inning.

Brook got the start and pitched a complete-game. She allowed just two hits through six innings while striking out eight. The lone blemish of the game came in the first inning when she let up a solo shot.

Brook said she threw and inside fastball that the batter was able to turn on. She said with it being a solo home run, it was easier to recover.

“It’s nice because when somebody hits a home run when there’s nobody on base, you can just pretend nothing happened and that’s what I did,” she said.

The Bombers continued to pile on runs throughout the game, scoring in every inning but the fifth. Greaney put the game away with a grand slam in the top of the sixth to go up 13–1 before Brook sit the Pioneers down in the bottom half of the inning.

The South Hill squad concludes Empire 8 play as it takes on Elmira College at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Elmira, N.Y.

“Tomorrow we want to do the same exact thing we did today,” Dolan said. “We want to eight run them and get out of there early, ideally. We don’t want to let any team think we can’t kick the crap out of them.”