MEDFORD, MA – No. 18 University of Rochester softball battled back from an early deficit to defeat the 17th-ranked Tufts University Jumbos, 5-2, to advance to Saturday's Medford Regional Final on Friday morning at Spicer Field.
 
Playing as the road team on their home field, the Jumbos (33-8) got off to a quick start against Molly Broccolo and the Yellowjackets (32-7), with four of the first five Tufts' batters reaching back. Josie Steinberg drew a five-pitch walk and Lauryn Horita singled down the left-field line to bring up Rachel Moore, whose sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third.
 
Kaitlyn Perucci's RBI single then gave the Jumbos an early 1-0 advantage and a batter later, Michelle Adelman made it 2-0 with another RBI single, this one to right. With two on and two out, Broccolo got Heaven Oliva to fly out to limit Tufts to just two runs, sending UR to the plate in the bottom of the first.
 
Jenna Gorecki notched the Yellowjackets' first hit of the contest in the bottom of the frame, but Sophia DiCocco worked around the two-out single to keep Rochester from responding.
 
Tufts got things going again in the top of the second, taking advantage of a defensive miscue to load the bases against Broccolo. But after the 'Jackets made a pitching change, bringing in Lauren Keys to relieve Broccolo, the junior got out of the jam without allowing a run, getting Rachel Moore to foul out and Perucci to pop out to keep the Jumbos' lead at just two.
 
Keys settled things down in the circle for Rochester, working around a one-out double in the top of the third, and stranding another baserunner in the fourth with some help from a highlight-reel, diving grab by Jensen Sminchak in left-center.
 
At the plate, Rochester got its bats warm in the bottom of the third, with back-to-back singles from Savannah Nowak and Riley Laygo putting two on with nobody out. But Sky Johnson, who relieved DiCocco after Nowak's infield single, struck out a pair to strand both baserunners and keep Tufts up 2-0.
 
Rochester went in order in the fourth, but after Keys worked another scoreless frame, pitching around a two-out double by Adelman for her third-straight scoreless frame, the Yellowjackets broke through in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Molly Mason drew a leadoff walk and took second on Nowak's sacrifice bunt. Laygo drew another walk, this one on just four pitches, to put two on for Keiper, who brought home UR's first run of the game with an RBI single to right field, taking second on the throw.
 
With UR now down just one run, Katelyn Wade pinch-ran for Keiper while another four-pitch walk drawn by Gorecki loaded the bases for Nicholoff. On Johnson's 1-2 pitch, Nicholoff tied the score at two-all with a sacrifice fly to deep right, before Sminchak's single off the third basewoman's glove gave Rochester it's first lead of the day, scoring Wade from third.
 
Rochester would add one more on Sminchak's stole base, with the throw caroming off Bela Jimenez's glove at second, allowing Gorecki to score, before Johnson finally got out of the inning with a groundout to third.
 
With the lead in hand, Keys retired the first two Jumbos she faced in the sixth and then worked around back-to-back, two-out singles by Steinberg and Horita, getting Moore to flyout to send the Yellowjackets to the plate in the bottom of the sixth.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Rochester tacked on an insurance run, pushing their lead to 5-2. Loren Castilloux led off the stanza with a pinch-hit single to center and moved to second on Mason's sacrifice bunt. Johnson retired the next Yellowjacket batter with a popup to first, but Laygo came through with an RBI single up the middle to extend UR's lead to 5-2.
 
Keys came back out for the top of the seventh, looking to close out the comeback victory for UR, and despite allowing a pair of walks, the junior got Lindsay Neumann to ground out to third to finish off the frame and the 5-2 victory for the 'Jackets.
 
Keys (14-1) earned the win, shutting the Jumbos out over her 5.2 innings of relief, allowing just five hits and walking two. Johnson (14-3) took the loss for Tufts, allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on five hits, walking and striking out three.
 
Laygo turned in a two-hit performance, going 2-for-3 with a walk, run scored and an RBI, while Keiper, Nicholoff and Sminchak each added a hit and an RBI.
 
Castilloux, Gorecki, Mason and Wade, along with Laygo, each scored one of UR's five runs, and Sminchak added a stolen base.
 
No. 18 Rochester now awaits the winner of Game 5 of the Medford Regional between No. 17 Tufts, and the winner of St. John Fisher vs. Western New England, scheduled for Friday, May 17 at 4:00 p.m. UR will take on the winner in Saturday's Medford Regional Final at Spicer Field beginning at 11:00 a.m., needing just one win to clinch the title and advance to the Super Regional Round of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.