SALISBURY, MD – 16th-ranked University of Rochester softball defeated the Swarthmore College Garnet, 5-4, in walk-off fashion for its first win of the year on Sunday, before falling to the 13th-ranked Salisbury University Sea Gulls, 15-11, to wrap up its weekend on the Eastern Shore.
 
With the split, the Yellowjackets move to 1-3 on the season and will be back in action on Monday, March 10 when they open their spring trip in Seguin, TX with a doubleheader at No. 14 Texas Lutheran University beginning at 5:00 p.m. CT.
 
GAME ONE: #16 Rochester 5, Swarthmore 4.
After Lauren Keys worked a pair of scoreless frames, the Yellowjackets got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning. Keys led off the inning and reached on an error, and Julianna Lyons followed with a double to left, putting runners at second and third with nobody out.
 
Madi Paige came into pinch-run for Keys, and on Molly Mason's grounder to short, Paige scored while Mason reached on an error, giving Rochester a 1-0 lead.
 
Keys kept things rolling in the circle in the third, working another scoreless frame, while the 'Jackets took advantage of another Garnet error to tack on two more in the bottom of the frame. With two on and two out, Lyons reached on a dropped fly ball by the right fielder, scoring both Riley Laygo and Rowan Mulholland to make it a 3-0 UR lead.
 
In the top of the fourth, Keys gave up her first hit of the contest, a one-out, solo home run to Olivia McClammy, cutting Rochester's lead to 3-1, but the Yellowjacket right-hander retired the next two Swarthmore batters, and then sent the Garnet down in order again in the top of the fifth.
 
However, in the top of the sixth, the Garnet would again break through on another McClammy home run, but this time with runners on base to take the lead. Back-to-back singles by Iris Barone and Jordan Jackson brought McClammy to the plate with two-on and one out, and with one swing of the bat on Keys' 0-1 pitch, McClammy gave the Garnet a 4-3 lead.
 
Rochester would go in order in the bottom of the frame, but after Molly Broccolo relieved Keys and struck out the side in the top of the seventh, the Yellowjacket bats strung together three hits to walk things off in the bottom of the inning.
 
Savannah Nowak led off the final frame with a bunt single, and Laygo was hit by a pitch to put the game-winning run on base with nobody out. Jenna Gorecki quickly tied the score at four-all with an RBI double to left, scoring Nowak, while an error allowed Mulholland to reach, loading the bases for Keys.'
 
Keys needed just two pitches to finish off the victory, taking Lucia Sanchez' 1-0 pitch back up the middle for a walk-off, RBI single, to give the Yellowjackets their first win of the year.
 
Broccolo (1-1) picked up the win, while Lilly Goldberg (0-1) took the loss for the Garnet, allowing five runs, two earned, on five hits over six innings pitched. Keys got the start for UR and took a no-decision, allowing four runs on five hits over six innings pitched while going 1-for-4 with an RBI at the plate.
 
Mulholland went 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead UR at the plate, while Gorecki went 1-for-3 with a walk, double and RBI.
 
GAME TWO: #13 Salisbury 15, #16 Rochester 11
The Yellowjackets and Sea Gulls would trade bards in each of the first four frames, combining for 17 runs through the fourth inning. Rochester got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning, with Laygo's one-out single and Gorecki's hit-by-pitch bringing up Mulholland, who brought home Laygo, reaching on a two-base error to give UR a 2-0 lead.
 
Keys then knocked in Gorecki and Mulholland with a two-run single, and after Lyons reached on a fielder's choice, Molly Mason smacked an RBI double to right center, extending Rochester's lead to 4-1.
 
Salisbury would answer back in the bottom of the frame, as Emily Challender led off the inning with a double, took third on a passed ball and scored on Carrie Jacoby's RBI single to make it a 4-1 ballgame.
 
Broccolo though, making her third start of the year for the Yellowjackets, stranded two Sea Gulls to keep Salisbury from further cutting into Rochester's advantage in the bottom of the first, and UR got right back to it in the top of the second.
 
Laygo followed Nowak's one-out walk with an RBI triple to right center, bringing Nowak all the way around to score to make a 5-1 Rochester lead.
 
But once again, the Sea Gulls would answer back, stretching a run across on three-straight hits to start the second, before adding another on an error to cut UR's lead to two, 5-3, after two.
 
In the top of the third, Rochester tacked on three more runs, as Nowak's RBI single made it a 6-3 ballgame, while back-to-back walks drawn by Laygo and Gorecki loaded the bases and brought home another run to push UR's lead to four. Mulholland then reached on another error, one of five combined errors for the 'Jackets and Sea Gulls in the contest, to bring Nowak home and extend the lead to 8-3.
 
The Sea Gulls again answered back in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of another miscue after Ellen Stockman's two-out double to trim UR's lead back down to four, 8-4, headed to the fourth.
 
Rochester would then take its largest lead of the contest in the top of the fourth, loading the bases on a walk, fielder's choice, single and hit-by-pitch to bring up Laygo, who cleared the bases and extended the 'Jackets' lead to 11-4 with a three-run double to deep center.
 
However, after the Sea Gulls responded with three in the bottom of the inning, once again making it a four-run game and forcing the Yellowjackets to make a pitching change, UR couldn't answer back in the top of the fifth, and Salisbury broke through and took the lead with six runs in the bottom of the fifth.
 
A passed ball with runners at the corners made it an 11-8 game, while Madison Lepeonka brought home another run to pull the Sea Gulls within two. Maddie White then got Emily Stockman to fly out for the second out of the inning, but back-to-back home runs from Justyce Richard and Ellen Stockman gave Salisbury a 12-11 before the Sea Gulls tacked on one more to go up 13-11 before UR got the third out of the inning.
 
Now trailing by two, UR put runners on the corners in the top of the sixth but couldn't bring them home to score. And after Salisbury added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, the Yellowjackets would load the bases, looking to respond in the top of the seventh.
 
However, Sydney Adolfson came on in relief of Richard and worked out of the inning unscathed to earn a save and seal the 15-11, comeback win for the Sea Gulls.
 
White (0-2) took the loss for UR, allowing five runs on four hits over an inning of work, while Richard (1-0) picked up the win, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Salisbury.
 
Mason led Rochester with four hits at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, while Laygo went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, walk, run scored and four RBI. Keys also added two hits, going 2-for-5 with two RBI, while Nowak scored three runs, going 1-for-3 with two walks, three runs scored and an RBI.