Courtesy: U of R Athletics
Two more solid pitching performances and an opportunistic offense in both games enabled the University of Rochester to defeat Clarkson University in a Liberty League softball doubleheader at Southside Field on Sunday afternoon.
UR won the opener – a classic pitching duel between Emily Sharlach and Olivia Zoeller – by a 3-0 count. The Yellowjackets took the nightcap, 8-0, by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fifth to end it on the mercy rule. Rochester scored the six runs on five hits and four walks.
The sweep boosts Rochester’s overall record to 18-12, 10-0 in the Liberty League. UR has won 16 consecutive games – all since returning to Western New York State following an early season jaunt to the West Coast. Clarkson, which swept a doubleheader at RIT on Saturday, is 13-14 overall, 4-7 in the Liberty League.
League results on Sunday were a mixture: Union swept Skidmore, 7-6, 3-2; Ithaca and RPI split, 4-0 IC in game one, 1-0 RPI in game two. RIT and St. Lawrence split as well: SLU on the opener, 6-4, but RIT took a 3-0 win in the nightcap. Currently, Rochester (10-0), Ithaca (9-1), and RPI (8-4) hold down the top three spots in the league standings. Clarkson and St. Lawrence are both 4-7. Union is 4-8. Skidmore is 3-7, and RIT is 1-9. Rochester is idle in league play until next Friday and Saturday. The Yellowjackets will host Union on Friday, Ithaca on Saturday.
Game One:
Rochester 3, Clarkson 0:
Sharlach earned her fifth win of the season by throwing a four-hit shutout with no walks, no HBPs, and five strikeouts. She needed 91 pitches to earn her third shutout this year and her fifth complete game. She allowed four singles and never had an inning with more than one baserunner. Zoeller pitched six innings for her fourth complete game. She allowed six hits, three runs (two were earned), didn’t have a walk or an HBP, and she struck out five.
Rochester had some good fortune in the second inning when all three runs were scored. With one out, Loren Castilloux singled to centerfield. Zoeller worked the count on Hunter Gilbreath to 0-2 before the Rochester catcher lined her second home run of the season – this one over the left field fence – for a 2-0 lead.
Molly Mason skied the ball into right field on the next pitch and the Knights had trouble seeing the ball come down. It landed in the middle of the outfield and Mason sped around to third base. Madi Turner looped a ball into the outfield where it fell off the fingers of a glove and Mason raced home.
After that, it was pitcher vs. pitcher with each defense making solid plays to keep the scoreline low. After giving up a one-out single to Hannah Keiper, Zoeller bore down. She retired nine in a row. Bryce West broke up the streak with a single to left. Castilloux followed with a single, but Zoller induced a pop out from Gilbreath and a flybal to left field from Mason in the sixth.
Game Two:
Rochester 8, Clarkson 0:
Lauren Keys earned her second straight complete game victory, this one a two-hitter over Clarkson, to complete the sweep. She has four complete games now and two shutouts. She evened her record at 6-6.
She faced a bit of a challenge in the first inning. Zoeller popped up right in front of the plate. Three Yellowjackets converged on the ball, but no one made a move toward it until Keys lunged with her glove. It fell off the fingertips and Zoeller reached first safely. Keys earned a strikeout, but Sarah Vaccaro singled to center with Zoeller moving to second. Kaya Robert grounded to Mason at second base. She flipped to Kim to force Vaccaro and Zoeller crossed to third. Keys punctured the challenge, retiring Zoey Kovach to pop out. Rochester ran itself out of the bottom of the first. Bailey Nicholoff was hit by a pitch with one down. She stole second. Keiper hit back to the mound but Nicholoff was trapped off second. Starting pitcher Emily McBath ran at her. She got caught in a rundownand was tagged out by Robert. Keiper rounded first hoping to reach second if Nicholoff could stay out of trouble. When Robert tagged out the lead runner, she then ran at Keiper and tagged her for an un-typical 1565 double play.
UR scored a pair of runs on two hits, one walk, and an HBP in the second. Bryce West was hit by a pitch. Pinch-runner Kristen Myers moved up on Castilloux’s single. Gilbreath walked to load the bases. Mason popped a single into short center, scoring one. After a forceout at home and other runners moving up, McBath wild-pitched the second run home.
The Yellowjackets challenged in the third and fourth – two left on base each inning. They finally broke it open in the fifth. Castilloux singled in one run. Gilbreath walked, and pinch-hitter Allison Beckwith doubled off the left field fence. It brought home two runs and when the throw home got away, Gilbreath scored and Beckwith moved to third. Mason went back in to run for Beckwith. She scored on Madi Turner’s groundout (7-0). Klee and Kim singled. Nicholoff bunted the runners over. Keiper and West walked, forcing home the eighth run.
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