TROY, N.Y. – Top-seeded RPI took advantage of three hits and three Rochester errors in the second inning to burst in front, 5-0, in the elimination game of the Liberty League softball championship tournament. RPI went on to a 5-1 victory.
 
The Engineers moved into the championship round of the Liberty League event. RPI will play Ithaca College on Saturday. Ithaca sent both UR and RPI to the elimination round. On Thursday, Ithaca beat Rochester, 6-1. On Friday, the Bombers held on, 5-3, vs RPI. Rochester advanced to play RPI Friday by posting a 5-inning victory over Union, 8-0.
 
UR's bats couldn't get anything going against RPI's Jaime Cleasby over the first five innings. She allowed one hit in each of the first three innings and walked one. After Jocelynn Blackshear singled with one down in the second (and the game scoreless),, Cleasby set down 12 of the next 13 she faced.
 
Gianna Melillo was the only Rochester player to solve her each time. Melillo singled in the first, doubled in the third, then doubled in the sixth – which led to Rochester's run.
 
Cleasby finished with a five-hitter. She walked two and fanned seven. Hannah Leahy pitched a total of three innings for Rochester and Elizabeth Bourne threw four innings of relief. Leahy pitched the first two innings and faced three hitters in the third. Bourne relieved then. RPI reached her for three hits in that crucial rally.
 
Over four innings, Bourne allowed two earned runs, seven hits, no walks, and struck out two. Leahy allowed one hit – in the seventh inning when she came back into the game – walked two, and struck out one. Two of the runs against her were earned.

 
Rochester loaded the bases in the sixth with one out. Melillo lined a double to right center and Lydia Petricca walked. Haberly Kahn ran for her at first. Alexis Pope dropped a single into left field, loading the bases. Bourne re-entered the game as a pinch hitter. She flied out to center, scoring Melillo. When the throw home was off-line, Kahn was thrown out 8-2-5 trying to advance to third. It ended the inning.
 
In Brief: The Yellowjackets finished the season at 16-16. In the last set of rankings issued by the NCAA Division III Softball Advisory Committee, Rochester was ranked fifth in the Northeast – with RPI and Ithaca part of the top four… Heading into the Liberty League championship round on Saturday, Ithaca has won nine straight games. The last time the Bombers lost was April 21 at Rochester when Bourne picked up a 5-1 victory in the second game of a twinbill. That started a seven-game Liberty League winning streak for Rochester. It put UR into the Liberty playoffs and pushed the Yellowjackets into the regional poll.