ERIE, PA – Rochester capitalized on small-ball approach to score five early runs and defeated Penn State Behrend College, 6-1, in the opening game of the NCAA Division III softball playoffs on Friday afternoon. The victory puts the Yellowjackets into the winner's bracket of the regional. UR will play SUNY Geneseo on Saturday at 12 noon. Geneseo came from behind to defeat Stevens Institute of Technology, 6-4.
 
Hannah Leahy pitched into the seventh inning to earn her 15^th victory of the season. She allowed four hits, one earned run, walked six, and struck out six. With two down in the seventh, PSB rallied with a hit, two walks, and another hit to score its run. Emily Sharlach relieved with the bases loaded and the potential tying run on deck. She retired her only batter on an infield pop. The save was her fourth this season.
 
Penn State Behrend, which is hosting this six team regional, is one of Division III's best hitting teams with an average of .379 and four regulars hitting above .400. Leahy held the Lions in check. From the third inning through the sixth, she faced two batters over the minimum. She gave up an infield single (retired on a lineout double play back to Leahy), a short flyball into left for a hit, and a walk.
 
Her first two strikeouts came at opportune times. In the second inning (0-0), she walked Cami McNany and Lauren Olevnik. Samantha Manioci bunted the runners over. Leahy responded by striking out Ashley Schmidt and Angela Dale to end the threat.
 
The Yellowjackets fed off that performance. In the bottom of the second (UR hit as the home team as the higher seed), Allison Beckwith walked. Alexis Pope bunted in front of the plate and beat the throw to first for a single. Madi Turner bunted in front of the plate. Pitcher Kayla Lindberg fielded it and threw it down the right field line. Beckwith and Pope scored and Turner reached second base. After a popup to the mound, Alexis Klee singled, moving Turner to third. Marissa Russo walked to load the bases. Jen Carson's hard grounder to short was deflected, but fielded in time to throw out Klee as she raced for third. Turner scored the third run of the inning.

In the third, Rochester scored two unearned runs to stretch the lead to 5-0. Beckwith's flyball was dropped. Pope's grounder to the left side bounced off a glove putting two aboard. Turner doubled to left, scoring both. Schmidt replaced Lindberg on the mound. She retired eight of the first nine she faced. Hannah Keiper doubled with two down in the fourth. Rochester tacked on one more run in the sixth. Alizah Ayon hit a pinch-hit home run over the centerfield fence for a 6-0 bulge.

"We hit the ball really hard, but Penn State Behrend made some plays," said Rochester coach Margaret Yerdon-Grange. "Small ball really helped us."

"They never gave up," Leahy said of the Lions. "They really processed through the whole game."
 
Notes: All three Rochester-area teams in this regional won: St. John Fisher rallied vs. York (PA) College, 10-4 and Geneseo rallied to defeat Stevens, 6-4… A fourth Upstate NY team, Alfred University, won its NCAA opener in Eau Claire, Wisconsin by defeating Piedmont College,  3-0… The regional seeds coming into the tournament: 1. Fisher, 2. Geneseo, 3. Rochester, 4. Penn St. Behrend, 5. Stevens, 6. York (PA)… First two games Saturday show Fisher playing Penn St. Behrend at 10 a.m., followed by a winners' bracket game between Geneseo and Rochester at 12… This is Rochester's eighth NCAA tournament appearance (PSB's eighth as well) and the fifth tournament when Rochester has played the host team. It's the first time the Yellowjackets have beaten the host… It's Rochester's fourth straight opening round victory (also won in 2014, 2015, and 2016)… The regional champion will advance to the Finals Round in Salem, Virginia next weekend… UR's all-time tourney record is 19-15… This was the third time that Rochester faced PS Behrend in the NCAAs (2008 and 2016)… Yellowjackets lost a doubleheader at Geneseo on March 10 (1-0 and 6-1)… The last pitcher to win at least 15 games in a season for Rochester was Brittany Grage (currently an assistant coach) in 2014. She was 17-7. Her teammate, Eleni Wechsler, was 15-5 that year…. The single-season record for wins by a Rochester pitcher is 25 (by Beth Ameno in 2008, 25-10)… Sharlach's four saves match Sara Hutchinson who had four saves in 2010. That's the school record.