MEDFORD, MA – After getting run-ruled in game one, No. 18 University of Rochester softball bounced back to give the 17th-ranked Tufts University Jumbos all they could handle in game two, twice taking the lead before the Jumbos answered and eventually finished off the two-game sweep.
 
The Jumbos topped UR in game one, 15-1 in a run-rule-shortened five innings, before eking out a 3-2 win over the Yellowjackets in game two to win the Medford Regional and clinch a spot in the Super-Regional Round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
 
For their efforts across Rochester's four contests: Lauren Keys, Riley Laygo and Jensen Smichak were named to the Medford Regional All-Tournament Team. Laygo hit .333 (4-for-12) with a double, two runs scored and three RBI across UR's four games, while Sminchak batted .400 (4-for-10) with two RBI. In the circle, Keys went 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA, allowing three runs on 11 hits over nine innings pitched.
 
GAME ONE: #17 Tufts 15, #18 Rochester 1 (5 INN.)
The Jumbos struck first in the top of the first inning, jumping all over the Yellowjackets and chasing UR starter Molly Broccolo after just a third of an inning pitched. Josie Steinberg and Lauryn Horita led off the first with back-to-back singles, before a fielder's choice by Bela Jimenez loaded the bases with nobody out.
 
A wild pitch brought home the game's first run, while a batter later, back-to-back run-scoring singles by Michelle Adelman and Keila McCabe made it a 4-0 game and forced Rochester to make a call to the bullpen. Keys relieved Broccolo and worked out of the jam without allowing any more damage, getting a flyout and groundout to send the Yellowjackets to the plate.
 
Keys would settle things down in the second and third, and after going in order in the bottom of the first, the 'Jackets answered back in the bottom of the second. Bailey Nicholoff drew a hit-by-pitch to leadoff the frame, and took second and third on groundouts by Sminchak and Julianna Lyons, before Hunter Gilbreath shot a single up the middle to score Nicholoff, cutting Tufts' lead to 4-1.
 
However, the Jumbos would push three more runs across in the top of the fourth to stretch their lead to 7-1 and force another pitching change, as Laygo relieved Keys and worked out of the inning on a flyout by Adelman.
 
And after UR went down in order in the bottom of the fourth, the Jumbos put up a crooked number in the top of the fifth to run away with game one, scoring eight runs on nine hits, taking advantage of a defensive miscue to extend their lead to 15-1. With two on and two out, an error allowed Steinberg to reach and the inning to continue, and the Jumbos responded with seven-straight hits after a walk by Horita to put the game out of reach.
 
Sophia DiCocco (15-4) then pitched another 1-2-3 frame, setting down the side in order to in the bottom of the fifth earn the run-rule-shortened victory.
 
DiCocco allowed just one run on one hit over 5.0 innings pitched, while Broccolo (15-5) took the loss for UR, allowing four runs on four hits over a third of an inning pitched. Keys allowed three runs on six hits over 3.1 innings of relief, while Laygo pitched 1.1 innings out of the bullpen, allowing eight unearned runs on nine hits.
 
Gilbreath tallied UR's lone hit at the plate, going 1-for-1 with an RBI, while Nicholoff went 0-for-1 with a run scored.
 
GAME TWO: #17 Tufts 3, #18 Rochester 2
Sky Johnson and Maddie White got the ball for Tufts and Rochester, respectively, in game two, and both starters worked around walks in a scoreless opening frame.
 
In the top of the second, UR loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of singles and a walk, but Johnson got a groundout to escape the jam unscathed. While in the bottom of the frame, White worked around a two-out baserunner, retiring the Jumbos on three popouts to keep things scoreless headed to the third.
 
The Yellowjackets broke through in the top of the third, pushing a run across on Sminchak's sacrifice fly. Back-to-back singles by Jenna Gorecki and Nicholoff put runners at the corners for the sophomore, who flew out to center just deep enough to bring home Gorecki and give Rochester a 1-0 lead.
 
UR's lead would be short-lived, however, as Horita took White's 1-1 offering just over the wall in center for a two-out, solo shot, evening up the score at one-all.
 
Rochester would respond right back though, retaking the lead in the top of the fourth. DiCocco relieved Johnson to start the frame, but Gilbreath beat out an infield single to lead off the inning and put the go-ahead run on base.
 
After a fielder's choice, Molly Mason stood at first base, and Savannah Nowak knocked a single through the left side to put runners at the corners with just one out. Laygo came through with an RBI single to give Rochester the lead, but DiCocco got Hannah Keiper to ground into a double play to escape without allowing any more damage.
 
And once again in the bottom of the frame, Tufts answered, this time taking the lead. Perucci led off the bottom of the fourth with a single up the middle, and after White got Adelman to fly out to center, McCabe pushed a single just out of the reach of Julianna Lyons at third, putting two on with just one out.
 
A passed ball moved both runners up a base, and though White got Moore to hit into a fielder's choice, Keriann Slayton's two-run single up the middle scored both McCabe and Moore to give Tufts a 3-2 lead.
 
White got out of the inning with a lineout right back up the middle, and worked around two baserunners in the fifth, while the Yellowjackets went in order in both the fifth and sixth.
 
Down to their final three outs, Nowak got Rochester's offense going with a single to center, but after narrowly missing a double down the right-field line that went just foul, the Jumbos turned two on Laygo's hard-hit ball right back up the middle and retired Keiper to finish off the 3-2 victory and clinch the Medford Regional Title.
 
White (3-3) took the loss despite a superb performance in the circle, allowing just three runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two in six innings pitched, while DiCocco (16-4) again earned the win, allowing one run on four hits over four innings pitched.
 
Nowak went 3-for-3 to lead the Yellowjackets at the plate, while Laygo and Sminchak each drove in a run, with Laygo going 1-for-4 and Sminchak going 1-for-2. Gorecki and Mason scored UR's two runs, with Gorecki adding a hit and a walk.
 
With the two losses, the Yellowjackets wrap up the year at 32-9, while the Jumbos move to 36-8.