UTICA, NY – Sophomore Janelle Walters made a game-saving throw from left field to catcher Jessica Mount to record the final out of the game as the Nazareth College softball team held on to score a 4-3 victory over Utica College in the first game of the Empire 8 doubleheader. With the win, the Golden Flyers clinched the fourth – and final – playoff position for the Empire 8 Tournament that begins Friday at Stevens.

Stevens earned the top seed with a tie-breaker with second-seeded St. John Fisher and Alfred picked up the third seed.

Utica (15-19 overall, 6-8) finished in a tie with Nazareth (14-20, 6-8) but a Golden Flyers split with Houghton earlier in the year determined the tiebreaker for Nazareth as Utica dropped a pair of game to the Highlanders.

In the first game Monday, Utica took an early lead with a single run in the first inning but Nazareth tied the game in the second when sophomore Katherine Ruoff singled for score junior Kristen Simmons who had singled earlier in the inning.

The Pioneers jumped back ahead in the third inning with a pair of runs on a pair of hits and a sacrifice fly for the 3-1 lead.

Ruoff knocked in another run in the fourth as Simmons walked and scored to make it a 3-2 game and then Walters walked and scored on a single by senior Madison Joseph in the fifth to tie the game at 3-3.

The go-ahead run came in the sixth inning as freshman Sarah Simmons started the inning with a walk and moved to second on a well-executed sacrifice bunt by Ruoff. With one out, sophomore Mackenzie Kapp reached base on an error that allowed Simmons to score from second for the 4-3 Nazareth lead.

Gabriella Corasaniti pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning to move the game to the final inning.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Utica's Jamie Mille singled and later stole second. With two outs, Miller tried to score on a single to left field but Walters was able to make the throw home and Mount applied the tag to end the game.

In game two, Nazareth jumped out to a 5-0 lead with three runs in the first and two more in the second. Joseph, Sarah Simmons had run-scoring hits in the first inning while freshman Allison Smith and senior Marissa Tortora produced run-scoring hits in the second inning for the Golden Flyers.

Utica battled back and rallied for five runs to tie the game in the third and took the lead with three more runs in the fourth and added three additional insurance runs in the sixth for the win.

Nazareth is off for the next three days before heading to Hoboken, N.J. for the Empire 8 Tournament Friday.