SALISBURY, MD – A four-hit shutout by first-year pitcher Hannah Leahy lifted the University of Rochester softball team to a split doubleheader with 19th-ranked Lynchburg College on Sunday afternoon at the Parker Athletic Complex.
 
Leahy picked up her first collegiate shutout in game two of a doubleheader, helping Rochester (2-8) win 5-0.  The opener went in favor of the Hornets (11-3) by a 6-3 score.
 
In game one, UR got off to a quick start, plating three runs in the bottom of the first.  Alexis Pope singled, driving in Anne Marie Cortes, and Lydia Petricca notched a two-out, two-run double, scoring Gianna Melillo and Harley Kaczegowicz.
 
Lynchburg would respond with one in the second and three runs in the third to take the lead.  The Hornets then added two insurance runs in the sixth to seal the win.
 
Petricca ended 2-3 with two doubles and two RBI in game one.  On the rubber, Leahy tossed a complete game, allowing 14 hits, 6 runs (5 earned) with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts.
 
In game two, the first-year let a strong UR defense help her out, scattering just four hits and walking five in the shutout win.
 
Jocelynn Blackshear provided the first run of the game in the top of the second, driving in Petricca with a single.  In the sixth, Blackshear plated two more runs on a two-out double.
 
Rochester would then score two insurance runs in the top of the seventh, thanks to a Lynchburg error on a Cortes grounder and a Pope RBI groundout.
 
UR is scheduled to play one more doubleheader during its spring break trip, weather permitting, against Mount St. Mary College on Wednesday.  The weather has already postponed a doubleheader against Shenandoah on Monday and Immaculata on Tuesday.