University of Rochester softball pitched and homered its way to a doubleheader sweep in its home opener against the St. John Fisher University Cardinals at Southside Field, shutting out Fisher in game one, 6-0, before rallying back from an early deficit in game two, 6-2, behind five-combined home runs across the two contests. With the sweep, Rochester moves to 6-8 on the season, while St. John Fisher drops to 5-7 on the year.
 
GAME ONE: Rochester 6, St. John Fisher 0
A leadoff single in the top of the first by Taylor Shackleton would give St. John Fisher the first baserunner of the game, but Molly Broccolo next got Maddie Donlin swinging before erasing the Shackleton with a 6-4-3 double play.
 
Rochester would also go in order in the bottom of the first, while Broccolo kept things rolling in the second, working around a one-out walk to keep things scoreless.
 
In the top of the third, Tori Lopresto led off with a single and took second on Cassidy Evanetski's sacrifice bunt and third on Shackleton's ground ball. But Broccolo kept things scoreless with a groundout to end the inning one batter later after Donlin reached on a dropped third strike.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Bailey Nicholoff would hit her first of two home runs on the day, and the first of five for the Yellowjackets to give UR the lead. Jensen Sminchak got UR's offense going with a leadoff single. Savannah Nowak moved Sminchak to second with a sacrifice bunt, and though Ainsley Evanetski got Riley Laygo to fly out to deep center, Nicholoff took the senior's 0-2 pitch out to right center for a two-run shot to give Rochester a 2-0 lead.
 
And after Broccolo got the Cardinals to hit into a double play in the fourth, UR added to its lead in the third. Julianna Lyons' one-out single brought up Molly Mason, who just missed a home run with a double off the top of the left-field fence, bringing home Maithili Shah, who pinch-ran for Lyons, to make it a 3-0 UR advantage.
 
Broccolo kept on cruising in the fifth, working around another leadoff single with three-straight groundouts, three of 14 groundouts induced by the Yellowjackets' starter, while Rochester got right back to it at the plate in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Laygo doubled to leadoff the frame, and after moving to third on Nicholoff's sacrifice, Rowan Mulholland brought another run home with a sacrifice fly to right, extending the 'Jackets' lead to four.
 
The Yellowjackets would tack on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on Lyons' two-run blast after a leadoff walk from Jenna Gorecki, while Broccolo made quick work of the Cardinals in both the top of the sixth and seventh, working around a two-out error in the top of the seventh to finish off the shutout victory.
 
Broccolo (4-3) allowed just five hits, walked one and struck out five in a complete-game shutout to earn the win, while Ainsley Evanetski (1-3) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out four.
 
Lyons went 2-for-3 with a home run, run scored and two RBI to lead UR at the plate, while Nicholoff went 1-for-2 with a home run, run scored and two RBI.
 
GAME TWO: Rochester 6, St. John Fisher 2
With four hits in their first five at-bats, the Cardinals would strike first against Lauren Keys and UR in game two. Madi Rose led off the top of the first inning with a single, and after Donlin flied out to second, Amalia DeMartino took Keys' first pitch over the right-field fence for a two-run blast, giving Fisher a 2-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals would look to add more as Emily McManus followed DeMartino's blast with a single down the left-field line, before Shackleton doubled down the left-field line, but Keys stranded both baserunners to keep Fisher's lead at just two, striking out Mari Spitz looking before getting Lopresto to fly out to left.
 
Rochester then looked to respond in the bottom of the frame, putting two on with a pair of walks, but Cassidy Ormond, stranded both baserunners, sending Fisher back to the plate up 2-0.
 
Keys settled down after the top of the first, working around a one-out single in the second before setting the Cardinals down in order in the top of the third.
 
Meanwhile, Rochester would leave another baserunner on in the second but would break through against Ormond in the bottom of the third.
 
Laygo quickly got UR on the scoreboard with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the third, while Nicholoff worked a five-pitch walk to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Mulholland laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Nicholoff to third, and after Gorecki worked another five-pitch walk, Ormond got Lyons to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning.
 
That brought up Mason, who took Ormond's 1-1 pitch over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer, scoring both Gorecki and Lyons to give UR a 4-2 lead.
 
Keys returned to the circle for the top of the fourth and retired the first two batters she faced, but an error and a single put runners at the corner, and the 'Jackets made a call to the bullpen with the top of the Cardinals' order coming up.
 
Broccolo relieved Keys, and with just three pitches, retired Rose via a swinging strikeout, standing both Cardinal baserunners and keeping Rochester up by a pair.
 
The Yellowjackets would then double their lead in the bottom of the fourth and chase Ormond after a one-out walk by Laygo. Molly Kuhn relieved Ormond, but on the first pitch Nicholoff saw from the Cardinals' sophomore, the UR senior blasted her second two-run shot of the day, extending Rochester's lead to 6-2.
 
A single by Mulholland and a double by Gorecki to follow had UR looking for more, but Kuhn got Lyons to line right back up the middle into a double play, allowing the Cardinals to escape without any further damage.
 
That'd be all Broccolo needed in the circle, however, as the Yellowjacket junior erased another leadoff single with another double play in the top of the fifth, and worked around a throwing error with a pair of groundouts in the top of the sixth.
 
Then in the top of the seventh, Broccolo got three more groundouts to end it, giving Rochester a 6-2 victory and its first doubleheader sweep of the year.
 
Broccolo (5-3) again earned the win, allowing just one hit and striking out two in 3.1 innings of relief, while Keys allowed two runs on six hits and struck out over 3.2 innings pitched. Ormond (2-1) took the loss for St. John Fisher, allowing five runs on three hits, walking seven and striking out two over 3.1 innings pitched.
 
At the plate, Mason went 2-for-2 with a walk, double, home run, run scored and three RBI, while Laygo went 1-for-2 with two walks, a home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Nicholoff notched her second home run of the day, marking the third-straight contest the seniors homered in, going 1-for-3 with a walk, home run, run scored and two RBI.
 
The Yellowjackets next host Oswego State on Wednesday, March 26 in a non-conference doubleheader at Southside Field beginning at 3:00 p.m.