University of Rochester softball celebrated its seniors pregame and then made it four wins in a row with a Senior Day sweep of the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds on Saturday afternoon at Southside Field. The 'Jackets edged the Thoroughbreds in game one, 6-4, before downing Skidmore in game two, 8-3, to move to 17-9 (9-1 LL) on the year, while the visiting Thoroughbreds drop to 8-20 (2-8 LL) with the two losses.
 
GAME ONE: Rochester 6, Skidmore 4
The Yellowjackets would strike first against the Thoroughbreds in both contests, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first. Bailey Nicholoff reached on an infield single to lead off the frame, and Riley Laygo followed with a single, taking second on the throw to put runners at second and third with nobody out. A batter later, Jenna Gorecki launched her second home run in as many games, this one a three-run shot, to give Rochester a 3-0 lead.
 
Julianna Lyons then singled to center, and after Molly Mason drew a two-out walk, the Thoroughbreds made an early pitching change, bringing Mallory Allen in from second base to relieve Shayne Cleeve after just two-thirds of an inning.
 
Jensen Sminchak welcomed Allen to the contest with an RBI single to left, but Allen retired Savannah Nowak to prevent any further damage.
 
Trailing 4-0, Skidmore would answer back in the bottom of the frame, as Rachel Monser singled to right and took second on Allen's sacrifice bunt. Lauren Keys, who got the senior-day start, retired the Thoroughbreds' next batter via a foul out to left, but Sophia Finch stroked a single up the middle to keep the inning alive and score Monser, cutting Rochester's lead to 4-1.
 
Skidmore would add another in the top of the fourth, bringing home Jess Nachamie after another leadoff single. The senior singled to left and took second on a defensive miscue, then took third on Monser's ground and scored on another two-out, RBI hit for the Thoroughbreds, a Madison Bonham RBI double to center.
 
Rochester would get a run back in the bottom of the fourth on Nicholoff's one-out, solo homer to make it a 5-2 lead. But despite loading the bases with two singles and a walk after Nicholoff's blast, Allen stranded all three baserunners to keep the Yellowjackets from extending their lead any further.
 
The Thoroughbreds then made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth on Waters' two-run blast to deep left, forcing UR to make a pitching change with their lead down to 5-4.
 
Maddie White relieved Keys and retired two of the next three batters she faced, and then settled things down with a 1-2-3 frame in the top of the sixth.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the 'Jackets added an insurance run on Mason's two-out, infield single, scoring Lyons, who reached on a fielder's choice and took second on White's walk.
 
White came back out for the top of the seventh, looking to close things out, and though the Thoroughbreds put the game-tying run on base with a leadoff double and a hit-by-pitch, White got out of the inning unscathed. Waters hit into a fielder's choice to erase the lead runner, and White then struck out Elle Harrison and got another fielder's choice to keep Skidmore off the board and close out the 6-4 victory.
 
Keys (2-2) picked up the win, allowing four runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings pitched, while White earned a save, her second of the year, pitching 2.2 scoreless frames, allowing two hits and striking out one.
 
Cleeve (1-7) took the loss for Skidmore, allowing four runs on four hits over 0.2 innings pitched, while Allen allowed two runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings out of the bullpen.
 
Gorecki drove in a team-high three runs, going 1-for-3 with a home run, walk, run scored and three RBI, while Nicholoff went 2-for-2 with two walks, a home run, two runs scored and an RBI.
 
GAME TWO: Rochester 8, Skidmore 3
Rochester again got ahead early in game two against the Thoroughbreds, pushing a run across in the first before putting up a five-spot in the second. Nicholoff kept her hot streak going with an infield single to short, stole second, and took third on Rowan Mulholland's infield single to put runners at the corners with just one out. Then, on Gorecki's fielder's choice, Nicholoff slid in out of the reach of Nachamie's tag, giving UR a 1-0 advantage.
 
And after Molly Broccolo worked around a pair of baserunners in the top of the second, the 'Jackets put up a crooked number in the bottom of the frame.
 
A single by Wade and a fielder's choice by Sminchak, as well as stolen bases by each, gave the 'Jackets two runners in scoring position for Nowak, who brought the inning's first run home with a sacrifice fly to center. Nicholoff then drew a walk and stole second to bring Laygo to the plate, who doubled home a pair, extending Rochester's lead to 4-0.
 
Next up, Mulholland plated two more with a two-run blast to right center, prompting a pitching change for the Thoroughbreds, and giving the Yellowjackets a 6-0 lead after two.
 
UR would leave a pair of baserunners on in the bottom of the third, but Broccolo cruised through the third and fourth innings, retiring six-straight before a two-out single by Mayne in the fourth.
 
In the fifth, though, the Thoroughbreds took advantage of a 'Jacket fielding error and pushed a run across on Harrison's RBI groundout, but UR would answer back in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Gorecki's leadoff single, followed by Lyons' RBI double and Mason's RBI groundout, made it a 7-1 game, and after three-straight walks drawn by Sara Mazur, Nowak and Nicholoff, the 'Jackets' lead stood at 8-1.
 
With a chance to finish off the run-rule victory, though, Cayla Schubmehl struck out Jessica Hinojosa with the bases loaded to keep the game going and Rochester's lead at just 8-1.
 
Skidmore made it 8-2 with another run in the top of the sixth on Mayne's RBI groundout, and then threatened again in the top of the seventh against White, who relieved Broccolo to start the frame.
 
White got back-to-back pop outs to start the seventh inning, but down to their final strike, three-straight Thoroughbred batters reached. Harrison blooped a single to left, Nachamie reached on an error, and Monser singled to left to load the bases, before a wild pitch brought home a run. But White struck out Bonham to finish off the contest with an 8-3 UR victory.
 
Broccolo (11-3) notched the win, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits, walking one and striking out five over 6.0 innings pitched. For Skidmore, Mayne (2-6) took the loss, allowing six runs on five hits over 1.2 innings pitched.
 
At the plate, Laygo and Mulholland each drove in a pair, with Laygo going 1-for-3 with a double, run scored and two RBI, while Mulholland went 2-for-4 with a home run, run scored and two RBI.
 
The Yellowjackets next wrap up their home slate with a midweek doubleheader against Buffalo State on Wednesday, April 23 at 3:00 p.m.