ITHACA, NY – The University of Rochester softball team stayed alive in the Liberty League Tournament, posting a 4-2 victory over Clarkson University in an elimination game at Ithaca College on Friday afternoon.
 
UR's win comes on the heels of dropping its tournament opener by the same 4-2 score to 3rd-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
 
Rochester pushes its record to 20-18 on the season and will play in another elimination game on Friday afternoon against the loser of the winners bracket game between RPI and Ithaca.  Times for Friday's games have yet to be determined due to an unfavorable weather forecast in Ithaca tomorrow.
 
The Yellowjackets got all of their runs on Thursday via 2-run home runs.  Senior Gianna Melillo blasted a 2-run shot to straightaway center field in the opening game.  First-year Alizah Ayon hit a clutch game-tying 2-run blast in game two, while sophomore Toni Anne Hahn provided the game-winning hit, a 2-run homer in the sixth inning.
 
In the opener, RPI rallied late, scoring three unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning to edge out a 4-2 victory, advancing into the winners bracket.
 
Rochester's Melillo gave the Yellowjackets the lead with her home run in the bottom of the second inning, scoring Harleigh Kaczegowicz who led off the inning with a single.
 
The Engineers got a leadoff runner on in the fourth, but Rochester pitcher Elizabeth Bourne escaped with no harm done.
 

In the fifth, RPI scored its first run of the game thanks to a UR mistake.  Bourne struck out the opening batter of the inning, but Cam Caswell reached when the ball got away at home plate.  A single, lineout and fielders choice moved runners to the corners before Veronica DeStefano singled to right, trimming the lead in half.
 
RPI then capitalized on another miscue in the seventh.  A leadoff error was followed by a single, putting the go-ahead runners on base with no-outs.  After a strikeout, DeStefano singled again to right field, scoring a run to tie the game.  Despite Sammi Re's strong throw from right field, pinch runner Ryleigh Greenwald was able to avoid the tag at the plate to make the score 2-2.
 
Pinch hitter Kate Anderson then produced a sacrifice fly to score another run, and Allie Hunt looped a single to center for the third run of the inning, putting RPI up 4-2.
 
Rochester's seventh inning saw Jen Carson reach with a one-out double, but she was stranded there after back-to-back flyouts ended the game.
 
Bourne took the loss in the circle for UR, throwing a complete game.  She allowed eight hits and four runs, none of which were earned while striking out three.  Jaime Cleasby earned the win for RPI, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out three in seven innings.
 
In game two, Rochester looked to strike early, getting two runners on in the first inning on back-to-back singles from Ayon and Kaczegowicz, but Clarkson pitcher Sam Mennig was able to escape the jam.
 
Clarkson returned the favor in the second, getting two straight two out singles, but UR's Hannah Leahy induced a lineout to second to end the threat.
 
The Golden Knights got a run in the third, opening the scoring.  Danielle Whitham singled with one out and was driven in by CU cleanup hitter Michele Winn who clubbed a double to center field.
 
Clarkson's lead doubled in the fifth inning, when Winn grounded to second, but reached on an error with the bases loaded, scoring Raeanna Dunn.  Relief pitcher Addy Szczerba did a good job to limit the damage though, getting a strikeout and flyout to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the inning, UR tied the game. Re lined a double to left and was driven in when Ayon smacked her team leading 12th home run of the season over the left center field wall.
 
The next inning saw the Rochester's at-bat extended thanks to a Clarkson error, paving the way for Hahn to hit her 2-run blast which proved to be the difference in the game.
 
Clarkson got its leadoff hitter on in the seventh via walk, but two pop outs and a grounder to short finished off the UR victory.
 
Szczerba pitched three innings of 1-hit ball with a strikeout, earning her fifth win of the season.  Leahy tossed four innings, allowed seven hits and two runs.  Mennig went the distance for Clarkson, scattering seven hits and four runs (2 earned) in the loss.