University of Rochester softball earned a pair of wins in a doubleheader sweep of the Fredonia State Blue Devils on Sunday afternoon at Southside Field. The 'Jackets walked off on the Blue Devils in a run-rule-shortened six innings in game one, 13-5, before topping Fredonia in game two, 8-3. With the two runs, URochester moves to 9-5 on the year, while the Blue Devils fall to 4-12.
 
Game 1: Rochester 13, Fredonia 5 (6 inn.)
Maddie White toed the rubber in game one for the 'Jackets and, despite yielding back-to-back singles to Madison Devore and Kayla Jo Lynn in the top of the first, worked out of the inning without allowing a run. However, after the 'Jackets left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Fredonia would get on the scoreboard first in the top of the third.
 
Devore led off the top of the third with a double, and after White got Lynn to fly out to left, Madison Lowe stroked a single up the middle, scoring Devore to give Fredonia a 1-0 advantage.
 
White would retire the next two Blue Devils, though, and just two batters later, the 'Jackets would respond and take the lead on Riley Laygo's two-run blast, scoring Ally Kim after Kim's leadoff single.
 
A walk and single kept the inning going for Rochester, putting runners at first and third, and then second and third after Madi Paige stole second, for Julianna Lyons, who made it 3-1 with an RBI single. Jensen Sminchak then brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to right, and a batter later, Mathili Shah made it 5-1, beating out an infield single to short to score Lyons.
 
With a 5-1 lead, White worked a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, but would run into trouble in the top of the fifth. A hit-by-pitch and another single by Devore put runners on first and second for Lynn, who beat on a bunt single and took second on a throwing error, allowing Kim Dorane to come home to score.
 
Lowe's sacrifice fly then pulled Fredonia with two, 5-3, scoring Devorne, while Avery Hill followed with a single up the middle to score Lynn and make it a one-run ballgame. Another hit-by-pitch then put the go-ahead run on base, but White got out of the jam with a strikeout and groundout, sending Rochester back to the plate with a one-run advantage.
 
URochester got one back in the bottom of the fifth on Sminchak's RBI single, but again, the Blue Devils would threaten and pull within a score in the top of the sixth.
 
Saira Ramakrishnan relieved White to start the sixth, but the Blue Devils quickly loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. Lynn's sacrifice fly then cut the Yellowjackets' lead to one, 6-5, while Lowe beat out an infield single to reload the bases.
 
But Molly Broccolo relieved Ramakrishnan and worked out of the jam without allowing any more damage, striking out a pair to keep URochester's one-run lead.
 
And then in the bottom of the sixth, the Yellowjackets took advantage of a dropped fly ball to plate seven runs on five hits, finishing off the run-rule victory with a two-run single by Chloe Fitzgerald.
 
Mulholland's RBI single got the scoring started, while Lyons reached on the dropped fly ball to score a pair and make it a 9-5 URochester advantage. Up next, Sminchak smacked a double to right center, scoring two to put the 'Jackets up 11-5, and after a pitching change and walk by Katelyn Wade, Fitzgerald walked off the run-rule-shortened victory.
 
White (4-1) picked up the win, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits, striking out seven over 5.0 innings pitched. For Fredonia, Lowe (2-4) took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking, and striking out one.
 
At the plate, Sminchak went 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and four RBI, while Lyons added two doubles, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.
 
Game 2: Rochester 8, Fredonia 3
Broccolo picked up where she left off in game one, striking out five Blue Devils over the first three frames before the 'Jackets broke through in the bottom of the third.
 
Savanna Hernandez led off the bottom of the third with a single, and Kim followed with a bunt single, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Laygo then moved the runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt, before Mulholland gave Rochester a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly, scoring Hernandez from third.
 
In the top of the fourth, Broccolo picked up another two strikeouts, while the 'Jackets would put up a five-spot in the bottom of the inning.
 
Lyons quickly doubled Rochester's lead with a solo home run down the left-field line, while singles by Sminchak and Wade put runners at the corners with Ilana Weiss at the plate. Sminchak and Wade's perfectly-executed double steal extended the lead to 3-0, and after Weiss moved Wade to third with a groundout to short, Hernandez, Kim and Laygo hit back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles to double the lead to 6-0.
 
Rochester then made it 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth on Weiss' sacrifice fly, but couldn't quite finish off the run-rule victory, leaving the walk-off run at second.
 
Ramakrishnan then relieved Broccolo to start the sixth, and though the Blue Devils scored a pair on Lowe's two-run homer, Ramakrishnan worked out of the inning without allowing any more damage.
 
Laygo quickly got a run back in the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot to right, extending Rochester's lead to 8-2. And while Devore would hit another homer for Fredonia in the seventh to make it a five-run game, Ramakrishnan retired the next batter to finish off the 8-3 victory.
 
Broccolo (3-4) earned the win, holding the Blue Devils to just two hits while walking one and striking out eight over 5.0 innings pitched. Kendall Phillips (2-5) took the loss for Fredonia, allowing six runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings pitched.
 
Laygo went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run to lead Rochester at the plate, adding a run scored and two RBI, one of six 'Jackets who turned in multi-hit performances in game two.
 
It's a quick turnaround for URochester, as they host SUNY Geneseo in another non-conference doubleheader at Southside Field on Monday, March 30, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.