FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Fredonia closed out the home portion of the 2016 softball season with a doubleheader sweep of Rochester Institute of Technology.

Lauren Pixley (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) singled to center to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs in the last of the sixth. Freshman right-hander Jessica Merle (Brocton, N.Y./Brocton) needed relief help in the seventh to get her first collegiate win. Merle worked 4 1/3 innings of relief and allowed a three runs -- a three-run blast to deep left by Emma Sarles -- before settling back down.

Sophomore right-hander Megan DeGroat (New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall) got the last two outs with two runners on for her first save.

The first collegiate homer by senior Kim Lotocki (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) started a five-run fourth inning for the Blue Devils. It erased a 5-1 RIT lead. The Tigers bounced back with three runs in the fifth to take an 8-6 lead before Fredonia began its comeback.

Pixley, Khee Nance (Dunkirk, N.Y./Dunkirk), and Cassidy Herman (Maybrook, N.Y/Valley) had two hits each. Nance scored twice and stole two bases. Nikki Lent (Yaphank, N.Y./Longwood) added a two-run double.b

Freshman right-hander Erika Whitney (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville) pitched a complete-game seven-hitter in Game 1, her second win of the season. Megan Medina (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) had two hits and three RBI to lead the offense. Lent and Morgan had two hits and one RBI each.

The sweep improved the Blue Devils to 10-20 heading into a crucial SUNYAC weekend. With a doubleheader Friday at Brockport and a doubleheader Saturday at Geneseo, Fredonia will need to win out to have a chance to make the six-team tournament bracket.