Nora Passuite lined a single down the right field line to score pinch-runner Mackenzie Miller from second base in the bottom of the seventh as Alfred University rallied past the University of Rochester, 8-7, at Southside Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Saxons scored twice in the seventh to mark the third lead change in the game. Jasmine Picini's grand slam home run in the fifth put AU ahead, 6-4. Rochester answered with three in the top of the sixth, two coming on Nina Korn's single to center, to retake the lead at 7-6.
 
In the seventh, Dana Torchia walked and Stephanie Arguello ran for her. Alison Wickwire bunted Arguello to second. Nicole Maher singled to right, moving Arguello to third. When the ball was misplayed, Arguello scored to tie the game. Picini walked, putting runners on first and second. Passuite hit a 1-2 pitch down the right field line and Miller scored easily.
 
The win puts Alfred into Sunday's championship game at 12 noon – against Rochester which bounced back to defeat Messiah in the third game of the day. If Rochester wins, the same two teams will play at 2:30 p.m. to determine which team moves into the Super Regionals next week.
 
Sophia Chiavatti earned the win with 6.2 innings of relief. She allowed eight hits, four runs, walked one, and struck out two. Katelyn Jakobsen left after facing five batters. Rochester's Eleni Wechsler hit a three-run home run and Lauren Muni doubled.
 
"I started to warm yup as soon as the game started," Chiavatti said. "They (Rochester) are good hitters. I tried to move my ball – it goes out and in. The screwball was my most effective pitch. They were hitting the curve."
 
Alfred head cooach Gino Olivieri has been down this comeback road before. "We won games like this in the Empire 8 (tournament)," he said. The Saxons rallied past Utica in the elimination rounds and then beat Ithaca in one championship final.
 
The Saxons rallied immediately. Down 3-0 in the first, Torchia was hit by a pitch with two outs. Wickwire singled up the middle and Maher doubled to deep center to score two. Picini flied out to the base of the center field fence to end the inning.
 
Rochester stretched its lead to 4-2 on a home run by Brittany Grage leading off the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, all four Alfred runs were unearned on the grand slam by Picini. With one out, Liz Thompson walked. Torchia bounced to short, but the throw to second was wide and both runners were safe. Wickwire walked to load the bases. Maher lined softly to second for the second out. Picini, who flied deep to center in the first and deep to left in the fourth, drove a pitch over the right center field fence for a 6-4 lead.
 
"Even on the grand slam, I knew the game wasn't over," Olivieri said. Rochester scored three in the sixth to go ahead.
 
Grage singled and was bunted to second. Pinch-hitter Ashley Amidon singled to deep right center, scoring Grage. Tiffany White re-entered the lineup, running for Amidon. She moved to second on Tayler Fravel's bounced to third. Meg Hennessy singled up the middle, moving Amidon to third. Hennessy took second on the throw. That brought up Nina Korn, Rochester's top run-producer. And it left Olivieri with a decision.
 
"I could walk her (intentionally)," he said, "but the player behind her already had a home run. So I had to decide whether to risk a three-run home run or a grand slam. The last time up, we got her to pull the ball." Korn bounced out leading off the fifth.
 
Korn singled to center on a 2-2 pitch and advanced to second. That put Rochester up, 7-6, and set the stage for the seventh inning.
 
"Everyone contributed," Olivieri said. "Look what our pinch-runners did." Two of the four runners he used scored.
 
The loss went to Wechsler, who relieved Grage in the sixth. Grage went the first five innings. She left after a leadoff single by Alyson Hampton. In five innings, she allowed six hits, six runs (two earned), walked three, and struck out two. Wechsler gave up two hits, two runs (one earned) with two walks and two strikeouts. She is 13-4.
 
Rochester's record after the loss was 27-12. Alfred is 29-10 heading into Sunday.