TORY, NY – University of Rochester softball wrapped up its conference weekend with a doubleheader split against No. 16 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday afternoon at Doris Robison Field. The Yellowjackets fell in game one, 4-2, before bounding back to take game two, 6-4, and force a series split.
 
With the split, Rochester and RPI remain tied atop the Liberty League standings as UR moves to 21-7 (8-2 LL) on the year, while the 16th-ranked Engineers now stand at 25-2-1 (8-2 LL).
 
GAME ONE: #16 RPI 4, Rochester 2
After both starters, Molly Broccolo for UR and Brooke Sroczinski for RPI, worked around baserunners in the first and cruised through the second, the Yellowjackets struck first in the top of the third.
 
Hunter Gilbreath led off the inning with a single to center and was pinch-ran for by Adriyana Rodriguez, who took second on Savannah Nowak's sacrifice bunt. Rodriguez stole third to put the game's first run 60 feet away from scoring, and Riley Laygo brought her home with an RBI double to center. Then after Jenna Gorecki was called out due to batters interference, Hannah Keiper laced a single to center, scoring Laygo to give Rochester a 2-0 lead.
 
RPI looked to respond in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases on two singles and Callista Adorno's two-out, hit-by-pitch, but Broccolo got Alex Ledger to ground out to strand the bases loaded.
 
In the fourth, Loren Castilloux drew a leadoff walk, but Sroczinski stranded the senior on second with a pair of strikeouts, while Broccolo got three quick groundouts in the bottom of the frame.
 
And after Rochester again led a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth, the Engineers strung together three-straight singles to load the bases and eventually take the lead against Broccolo and the Yellowjackets.
 
Sydney Speanburg led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, before infield, bunt singles from Ryleigh Falvey and Erin Askins once again loaded the bases for RPI with nobody out. Emma Newberry then reached base on a fielder's choice to bring RPI's first run of the game home, cutting UR's lead to 2-1.
 
And while Broccolo got the next batter to ground into a double play, Ledger's two-run single gave the Engineers the lead before she was thrown out at second trying to stretch her hit into a double.
 
Now trailing 3-2, the Yellowjackets went in order in the sixth, and after RPI took advantage of a UR error to plate an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, Rochester came up to bat down to their final three outs in the top of the seventh.
 
Sroczinski though, worked a quick inning to finish off the win, working around Nowak's two-out single to get Laygo to groundout to strand another baserunner and give the 16th-ranked Engineers a 4-2 game-one victory.
 
Sroczinski (12-0) earned the win, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight, while Broccolo (8-4) took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned on eight hits, as both pitchers tossed complete games.
 
At the plate for UR, Laygo went 1-for-3 with a double, walk, run scored and RBI, while Keiper went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
 
GAME TWO: Rochester 6, #16 RPI 4
The Yellowjackets loaded the bases in the top of the first inning against Alexis Cooke and the Engineers, looking to once again strike first, but RPI's starter got a groundout to keep things scoreless and send RPI up to bat.
 
RPI put a pair of baserunners on against Lauren Keys as well, but the junior got Ledger to hit into a double play to end the threat and keep Rochester and RPI scoreless after one.
 
Both starters settled down to set down the side in order in the second, but Cooke ran into some trouble as UR pushed three runs across to take the lead in the top of the third.
 
Back-to-back singles from Laygo and Gorecki to lead off the frame gave the 'Jackets runners at first and second with nobody out. Keiper followed with an RBI double to bring home the game's first run, while Nicholoff brought home another with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Up next, Keys kept the runs coming with an RBI single, making it a 3-0 lead for Rochester headed to the bottom of the third.
 
In the bottom of the third, Keys worked another 1-2-3 frame, and the Yellowjackets then added two more in the top of the fourth. A leadoff walk drawn by Jensen Sminchak and a throwing error on Nowak's sacrifice put runners on second and third with nobody out for Laygo, but first RPI made a pitching change, bringing on Ava Markert in relief of Cooke.
 
Against Markert, Laygo hit into a fielder's choice to bring home Sminchak, while Gorecki followed with an RBI single, extending Rochester's lead to 5-0.
 
In the circle, Keys kept things rolling with another 1-2-3 frame in the fourth, and then worked around two hits in the bottom of the fifth to keep UR in front, 5-0.
 
Rochester tacked on one more in the top of the sixth on another RBI single by Gorecki, before RPI broke through in the bottom of the sixth. A walk, single and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Ledger, who launched a grand slam to cut the Yellowjackets' lead down to just two, 6-4.
 
However, UR made a pitching change, bringing on Maddie White to relieve Keys, and while the sophomore allowed two more baserunners, she struck out both Newberry and Falvey to strand a pair and keep Rochester's lead at two.
 
Then in the bottom of the seventh, White finished the job, getting Evann McDowell to line into a double play after a leadoff walk before striking out Ledger with a runner on to seal the 6-4 victory.
 
Keys (11-1) allowed four runs on six hits, walked one and struck out another over 4.0 innings pitched to earn the win, while White (3) struck out three and allowed just one hit and one walk over 2.0 innings to earn the save.
 
Cooke (9-2) took the loss for RPI, allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits over 3.0 innings pitched.
 
Gorecki led UR at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance, adding a run scored and two RBI, while Keiper went 2-for-4 with a double run scored and an RBI.
 
Keys also helped herself at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Sminchak scored two runs, going 0-for-2 with a walk.
 
Rochester next hits the road for a mid-week, non-conference doubleheader at Alfred University on Wednesday, April 24 at 3:00 p.m. in Alfred, NY.