CANTON, N.Y. – The University of Rochester launched its Liberty League softball season with a roar on Thursday, defeating St. Lawrence University in a doubleheader on the Saints' field. Rochester won the opener on the mercy rule, 10-2 after five innings. UR took the nightcap, 11-2, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to seal the sweep.
 
Rochester is 3-3 overall, 2-0 in the Liberty League. St. Lawrence is 0-5 overall, 0-2 in the league. The same two teams will play on Saturday in a twinbill at Southside Field. First game starts at 1 pm. The games were originally scheduled for Saturday in Canton and Sunday at Southside Field. Unpleasant weather is predicted for the North Country on Saturday, so the teams tweaked the schedule. Rochester headed north on Thursday and SLU will come down to UR on Saturday.
 
The hitting star for the Yellowjackets on Thursday was Jen Carson. She finished with six runs scored, nine RBIs, and three home runs, one of them a game-clinching grand slam. She hit a solo blast in the first game to increase Rochester's lead to 2-0. She added an RBI in the fifth. In game two, Rochester nibbled for single runs in the first and third. In the fourth, she clubbed a first-pitch three-run home run to boost the lead to 6-2.
 

Emily Sharlach pitched four-hit ball over five innings with a walk and six strikeouts to get her second win of the year. She picked up a save in game two, retiring five of six batters in the last two innings. Abbie Biggs got the game two win – five innings pitched, five hits, two earned runs, one walk, and two strikeouts.
 
Game One: Sharlach dominated. She  stranded four baserunners and allowed two hits in only one inning – when the Saints scored their run to get within 8-1. Skylar Hein doubled. Sharlach fanned two – both swinging – and a base hit brought home the run. She ended the inning on a popout. In the fifth, she issued a one-out walk, then induced two popouts to end it.
 
Carson walked to lead off the game. She was wild-pitched to second and came home on Hannah Keiper's double to the center field wall. In the third, she hit a first-pitch home run to left. Keiper reached on a one-out error. Alizah Ayon walked. Toni Anne Hahn singled in one run and two more scored on wild pitches. Rochester bunched together three hits, then took advantage of two Saint errors and two more wild pitches to increase the lead to 8-0.
 
Hahn had two RBIs (along with Carson). Alexis Pope and Keiper had solo RBIs. Seven people in the lineup had a base hit.
 
Game Two: When a player drives in seven runs in one game, it's hard to say a defensive play was the key. It was true in this game.
 
Rochester built a 6-0 lead with another first inning run: a walk, a passed ball, and a single to left from Ayon. In the third, Keiper walked (she did that three times in game two) and Ayon clubbed a triple to right center. Rochester scored three in the fourth. With one down, Marissa Russo singled to left. Alexis Klee lined a first pitch fastball to left and Carson followed with another first-pitch home run. It went to 6-0 on a leadoff walk to Hahn in the fifth. Madi Turner laid down a sacrifice right in front of the plate. She was thrown out at first, but Hahn raced all the way to third, just beating the throw back across the field. From there, she scored on a wild pitch.
 
Biggs cruised for five innings. She allowed three baserunners – two hits and a walk. In the sixth, the Saints got the bats working. McKailey Lyndaker singled. Sofia Adams tripled to left to make it 6-1. Hein, who doubled in the fourth, lashed a double to right center (6-2). Pinch-hitter Cora Ferguson looped a single down the right field line. The Saints had runners at the corners and no one out.
 
Sharlach came in. She ran the count to 1-1 on Carolyn Holran before getting her to pop up. The runner came too far off first base. Hahn caught the popup and alertly fired to Keiper at first for the second out. The Hanh-to-Keiper DP turned the inning around. After a walk, Sharlach induced a fly to center to end the sixth. Rochester broke it open in the seventh.
 
NOTE: Spectators are not permitted at home athletic events this spring. The softball doubleheader will be video-streamed (at no charge) on the UR website. Go to the softball schedule page for links for Live Stats and Video.