MEDFORD, MA – No. 18 University of Rochester softball defeated the St. John Fisher Cardinals, 6-2, opening the NCAA Division III Regional play with a win on Thursday evening at Spicer Field. With the win, the Yellowjackets advance to the winner's bracket where they'll face the 17th-ranked and host Tufts University Jumbos on Friday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m.
 
Facing Fisher for the third time this season, UR's pitchers scattered 10 hits over seven innings pitched but held the Cardinals to just two runs to secure the victory.
 
Molly Broccolo got the start for Rochester, and despite allowing a pair of infield singles in the top of the first, the sophomore struck out Emily McManus and got Mari Spitz to fly out to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard.
 
St. John Fisher would pick up two more hits in the second, but Broccolo added two more strikeouts to her tally, getting Emma MacLachlan with a runner on first and Madi Rose with two on and two out to once again keep things scoreless headed to the bottom of the second.
 
Jensen Sminchak notched UR's first hit of the contest, a bloop single to center, off Ainsley Evanestski, in the bottom of the second, the St. John Fisher's starter worked around the one-out baserunner, getting a flyout and popout to strand Sminchak at second base.
 
In the top of the third, McManus gave Fisher another baserunner with a two-out single. Spitz followed with a double to right, but the 'Jackets threw McManus out trying to score from first, as Riley Laygo connected with Savannah Nowak on the cutoff, who relayed it to Hunter Gilbreath for the tag, ending the inning with the 'Jackets and Cardinals still scoreless.
 
And in the bottom of the frame, UR would break through with a trio of run-scoring doubles to take a 4-0 lead. Nowak's one-out single to center got Rochester's offense going, and Laygo next blasted a double to deep center, scoring Nowak to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead.
 
Hannah Keiper drew an eight-pitch walk to put runners on the corners for Jenna Gorecki, who smashed another double, this one to right-center, scoring Laygo to make it a 2-0 ballgame. Bailey Nicholoff then cleared the bases with another double, scoring both Keiper and Gorecki to extend UR's lead to 4-0.
 
Broccolo responded to work her first 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, while in the bottom of the frame, Evanetski stranded a leadoff baserunner after Gilbreath led off the inning with a double to right-center.
 
St. John Fisher looked to have something brewing in the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles to leadoff the frame, but the Yellowjackets turned two on Maddie Donlin's grounder to second, while Broccolo worked out of the frame on her next pitch with a grounder right back to the pitcher.
 
The Cardinals made a pitching change to start the bottom of the fifth, bringing in Molly Kuhn to relieve Evanetski, but despite back-to-back, two-out singles by Nicholoff and Sminchak,                Amalia DeMartino made a terrific, diving stop on Julianna Lyons' smash, helping Fisher escape the inning unscathed.
 
Then in the top of the sixth, the Cardinals forced UR to make a change in the circle, as two-straight singles brought in Maddie White to relieve Broccolo. A walk and a hit-by-pitch brought home Fisher's first run of the game, but White bounced back to strike out CC Holmes for a big first out of the inning.
 
St. John Fisher tacked on one more on Katie Mannis' RBI fielder's choice before White worked out of the jam with a grounder to second, and the Yellowjackets would get both runs back in the bottom of the frame.
 
Molly Mason roped a double down the right-field line to start things off, while Nowak followed with a single, advancing to second to put runners at second and third with just one out. Laygo then drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Keiper, whose two-run single once again gave Rochester a four-run lead.
 
Kuhn got out of the inning without any more damage, and with the sun setting, White worked around a one-out baserunner to pitch a scoreless seventh, locking down the win with her fifth save of the year, tying the single-season program record.
 
Broccolo (15-4) allowed two runs on 10 hits and struck out four over 5.0 innings pitched, while White (5) earned the save, walking one and striking out three.
 
For Fisher, Evanetski (15-4) took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits over 4.0 innings pitched. No. 18 Rochester moves to 31-7 with the win, while Fisher drops to 34-6 with the loss.
 
Three 'Jackets turned it multi-hit days, led by Nicholoff, who went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Nowak went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Sminchak went 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
 
As a team, UR tallied five extra-base hits, all doubles, with the top-four of Rochester's lineup driving in all six runs.
 
With the win, No. 18 Rochester advances to face No. 17-ranked Tufts on Friday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m. at Spicer Field in Medford, MA, with the winner securing a spot in Saturday's Region Championship Game.