PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – University of Rochester baseball took its non-conference finale by the final score of 10-4 against the Alfred State College Pioneers on Wednesday evening at Towers Field.
 
Sammy Rosenfield toed the rubber for the Yellowjackets in the Wednesday evening affair, and although the Pioneers would strike first against Rosenfield and the 'Jackets, Rochester would answer in the bottom of the frame.
 
Bryson Rigsby and Sam Dickerson led off the top of the first with back-to-back singles before a one-out walk drawn by Nick Serce loaded the bases. Alfred State would plate one on Jack Curabba's RBI groundout, but Rosenfield got another groundout to escape without any more damage, and the Pioneers led 1-0 after a half inning of play.
 
Rochester quickly knotted things up in the bottom of the first, as Josh Leadem legged out an infield single, stole second and moved to third on Aaron Whitley's groundout before Joseph Rende brought the junior home with a sacrifice fly, evening the score at one-all.
 
Alfred State looked to retake the lead in the top of the second, as Gavin Moore led off the inning with a single and stole second. But Rosenfield struck out a pair, and on Rigsby's single to left, Luke Gregory threw out Moore trying to score from second, ending the inning with the score still level at one.
 
The Yellowjackets would then take their first lead in the bottom of the inning, putting up six runs to surge ahead of the Pioneers.
 
John Moses got the 'Jackets' bottom of the second started with a double to right, and after Gregory drew a walk, both Moses and Gregory stole a base to prevent the possibility of a double play. Robert Constantine drew another walk to load the bases, and while Serce struck out the next batter, Leadem gave the Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Gregory to make it 2-1 UR.
 
Whitley then made it 3-1 with an RBI single to left, and after Rende walked and the Pioneers made a pitching change, Jackson Reed lanced a three-run triple to deep right and came around to score on an errant throw to make it a 7-1 Yellowjacket lead.
 
Matt Casiero would relieve Rosenfield to start the third, starting a parade of relievers out of the 'pen for UR. Casiero worked around a two-out walk in the third, and a two-out single in the fourth, but Alfred State would get back on the scoreboard against Jason Cobert in the fifth.
 
Rigsby reached base safely for the third-straight time, taking advantage of a defensive miscue to give the Pioneers another leadoff base runner. Dickerson followed with a single before a fielder's choice put runners on first and third for Serce, who hit a sacrifice fly to deep right-center, plating Rigsby to make it a 6-2 Rochester lead.
 
But Cobert got Curabba to ground out to avoid any more damage, and UR would tack on two more in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Quincy Jaksch led off the inning with an infield single and took second on Leadem's groundout to third. Whitley then brought a run home with an RBI double to center, making it an 8-2 lead, and a batter later, Reed made it 9-2 with an RBI single, scoring Whitley from second to increase Rochester's lead to seven.
 
Luke Boylan worked a scoreless top of the sixth, and Thomas Karpishin struck out two in a 1-2-3 top of the seventh before the Pioneers rallied for a pair in the top of the eighth.
 
With the bases loaded and just one out, a wild pitch brought Serce home to make it a 9-3 Rochester lead, before Owen Lansing grounded out, scoring Curabba to make it 9-4. But Justin Grossman got out of the inning without any further damage, and again, UR answered in the bottom of the frame.
 
With two outs, Rende came all the way around to score on a little league home run, doubling to center and taking third and home on a misplay by the Pioneer's center field to put Rochester back up by six.
 
And although Alfred State put a pair on in the top of the ninth, Aidan Cooney finished things off with a groundout to third, and the 'Jackets took home a 10-4 victory.
 
UR moves to 23-11 with the win, while Alfred State falls to 22-14 with the loss. Rosenfield (3-1) picked up the win, allowing one run on four hits, striking out two over 2.0 innings pitched, while Serce (0-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on three hits over 1.2 innings pitched.
 
Six relievers and seven total pitchers made an appearance for UR, combining to allow just three earned runs on 11 hits, walking three and striking out seven.
 
At the plate, Reed went 3-for-4 with a triple, walk, run scored and four RBI, while Whitley went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI.
 
Moses and Rende each added doubles as well, while Leadem and Rende each drove in a run with sacrifice flies.
 
The Yellowjackets next head to Henrietta, NY to open a three-game series against RIT, with a doubleheader at the Tigers beginning on Saturday, April 29 at 12:00 p.m.