VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – University of Rochester softball opened its weekend at the Cross Bay Bash with a 4-3 win over the Southern Virginia University Knights, before falling to the No. 1-ranked and host Virginia Wesleyan University Marlins, 9-2, on Friday at Broyles Field. With the split, the Yellowjackets move to 3-1 on the year, while No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan remains unbeaten at 11-0 with the win, and Southern Virginia drops to 3-8 with the loss.
 
GAME ONE: Rochester 4, Southern Virginia 3
Maddie White and Emmaline DeGroot traded scoreless frames early on in the ballgame, with White retiring the first eight batters she faced before the Knights drew a walk and a hit-by-pitch in the top of the third. White, though, got Makenzie Grose to ground into a fielder's choice to end the frame, and the Yellowjackets would strike first in the bottom of the inning.
 
DeGroot retired the first two 'Jackets, but after Riley Laygo singled up the middle and stole second, Julianna Lyons brought the junior home with a single through the right side, giving Rochester a 1-0 lead.
 
However, Southern Virginia would quickly tie things up in the top of the fourth. Berkeley Whitten drew a hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning, and after DeGroot reached on a fielder's choice, Taelor Ware laced a double down the left-field line, scoring Nevaeh Woodhouse, who pinch-ran for Whitten.
 
And with runners at second and third and just one out, the Knights looked to take the lead with Morgan Rich at the plate, but the Yellowjackets turned a triple play on Rich's grounder right back to the pitcher, throwing Rich out at first before catching Ware out trying to take third, and then DeGroot trying to score to keep the game tied at one.
 
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, the Yellowjackets answered back, retaking the lead with two outs on the scoreboard. Ilana Weiss started the two-out rally a single up the middle, and after Maithili Shah pinch-ran for Weiss, back-to-back singles from Chloe Fitzgerald and Savanna Hernandez brought Shah, giving URochester a 2-1 lead.
 
In the circle, White settled back down in the top of the fifth, retiring the Knights in order with some help from an unassisted double play from Laygo at first base.
 
Laygo then led off the bottom of the fifth with a single after Southern Virginia made a pitching change, bringing in Marni Bianchi in relief of DeGroot. Bianchi retired the next Yellowjacket batter in Lyons, but next up, Rowan Mulholland took Bianchi deep with a two-run homer to left, scoring Laygo to extend Rochester's lead to 4-1.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Knights would answer back, loading the bases on back-to-back singles and a walk against White, and forcing Rochester to make a pitching change. Saira Ramakrishnan relieved White in the circle, but Bianchi greeted the first-year with a two-run single, pulling Southern Virginia within a run.
 
Ramakrishnan, though, retired Ware to put an out on the board, and then after re-walking the bases loaded, got two more pop outs to escape the bases-loaded jam with Rochester still in front by a run.
 
Bianchi kept Rochester off the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame to send Southern Virginia back to the plate in the top of the seventh, trailing by just one run.
 
URochester brought in Molly Broccolo to close things out, and though the Knights made things interesting, taking advantage of an error to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, Broccolo struck out a pair to nail down the save and close out the 4-3 victory.
 
White (2-0) picked up the win, allowing three runs on four hits, walking two and striking out one over 5.0 innings pitched, while Broccolo earned the save, striking out two and walking one.
 
For Southern Virginia, DeGroot (2-3) took the loss, allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out a pair.
 
Laygo led Rochester at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Mulholland went 1-for-3 with a home run, run scored and two RBI. Hernandez and Weiss also turned in two-hit days, with Hernandez going 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a RBI, and Weiss going 2-for-3.
 
GAME TWO: No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan 9, Rochester 2
Broccolo returned to the circle to start game two for the Yellowjackets, and after Hannah Hearl worked around a two-out walk in the top of the first, the Marlins got on the scoreboard quickly in the bottom of the inning.
 
Laci Campbell got Virginia Wesleyan's offense going with a single and stole second after Samantha Deitsch flied out to center. Morgan Tucker then gave the top-ranked Marlins a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to center, but Broccolo prevented any further damage, stranding runners at first and second.
 
However, the Marlins would come right back and add to their lead in the bottom of the second. Three-straight batters reached to start the inning, on back-to-back singles and a fielding error, loading the bases for Campbell.
 
And while the 'Jackets recorded the first out of the inning on Campbell's fielder's choice, getting Emma Adams out at home, Deitsch followed with a two-run double to make it a 3-0 ballgame, and Campbell came home on Tucker's groundout to extend Virginia Wesleyan's lead to 4-0.
 
Broccolo retired Taylor Mcqueen to prevent any more damage, though, and URochester would answer back in the top of the third. Hernandez picked up the 'Jackets' first hit with a one-out single up the middle, and Ally Kim followed with a double, putting runners at second and third. Hearl retired the next batter, but Mulholland came through again, this time with a two-run single, cutting the Marlins' lead in half, 4-2.
 
The score would stay that way till the bottom of the fourth, when the Marlins pushed across another run on Deistch's RBI single, extending their lead to three, 5-2.
 
And after Hearl recorded another 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fifth, No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan broke through again with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Taking advantage of an error, the Marlins scored four runs on four hits, loading the bases and scoring runs on a hit-by-pitch and two singles, chasing Broccolo and taking a 9-2 lead.
 
Campbell's bases-loaded hit-by-pitch made it a 6-2 Virginia Wesleyan lead, while Deitsch added two more RBI with a two-run single to push the lead to 8-2, before Mcqueen capped off the inning with another RBI single.
 
Ramakrishnan settled things down after the Marlins' four-run frame, but Hearl kept 'Jackets quiet at the plate the rest of the way, holding URochester to just one hit, a double by Katelyn Wade, in the top of the seventh to earn the 9-2 victory.
 
Hearl (6-0) earned the win for Virginia Wesleyan, allowing two runs on five hits, the most runs and hits she's allowed all year, while walking one and striking out seven.
 
Broccolo (1-1) took the loss for URochester, allowing nine runs, just four of which were earned, on 11 hits and two walks. In 1.2 innings of relief, Ramakrishnan allowed just three hits.
 
At the plate, Mulholland went 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBI, while Hernandez went 2-for-2 with a run scored.
 
The Yellowjackets will continue play at the Cross Bay Bash on Saturday, March 14, beginning with a matchup at No. 17 Christopher Newport in Newport News, VA, at 11:00 a.m.