Cortland Wins A Slugfest; Darkness Halts Game Two

Recap, photo courtesy of University of Rochester

CORTLAND, N.Y. – SUNY Cortland staged a stunning comeback in the bottom of the 10th inning to post a 12-9 softball victory over the University of Rochester on Monday afternoon.  The Red Dragons scored six runs, five coming with two outs.
 
In the scheduled second game, the Yellowjackets fell behind 4-0 after two innings, then rallied to tie the score at 5-5 in the fourth and were still batting when darkness fell. The coaches will look for a possible continuation date in the near future. If it cannot be continued, all the stats will be abandoned and it becomes a "no-game".
 
Somehow, that almost makes sense considering how wild the opener was. Cortland led, 2-0, after one. Rochester tied it on the first of Gianna Melillo's two two-run home runs. Cortland edged ahead, 3-2 in the third and stretched it to 5-2 in the fourth after scoring two more times.
 

Petricca had two hits, two runs, and an RBI.

Rochester pulled within 5-4 on run-scoring doubles by Harleigh Kaczegowicz and Lydia Petricca. Cortland replaced starter Sam VanDorn with Courtney Kane after the Petricca double. She hit Melillo with a pitch, but fanned Jocelynn Blackshear to end the fifth. Cortland got one back in the fifth. Ericka Sadowski singled, took third on a double by Tori Scharff, and scored on a groundout by Averee May.
 
In the Rochester sixth, Alicia Bagan singled. Sammi Re bunted and the throw to second pulled the fielder off the bag, putting two on with no outs. Kane struck out Marissa Russo before Ann Marie Cortes bunted the runners into scoring position. Van Dorn returned after Kane hit Kaczegowicz to load the bases. Alexis Pope singled up the middle for two runs.
 
That tied it at 6-6 and Rochester started Hannah Leahy drew from the rally, getting into a nice groove. Over the next four innings, she allowed two singles and a walk, never more than one in an inning. Cortland did threaten to break the tie in a walk-off eighth. May singled and was bunted to second. UR's Jessica Conforti made two nice plays at second. She threw out Schoonmaker with May crossing to third with two outs. Then she backhanded a grounder by Hoyt and nipped her at the bag to send the game to the ninth still 6-6.
 
Neither side broke through until the 10th. Petricca was placed at second on the tiebreaker rule. Melillo followed with her second HR, this time to right field. Blackshear singled through the left side and Bailyn Piecewicz ran for her. VanDorn was replaced by Cady Walts. She got Conforti on a foulout. Re bunted Piecewicz to second. Russo struck out, but the ball rolled free. It was thrown away down the first base line which allowed Piecewicz to score UR's ninth run as Russo held at first.
 
In the Cortland 10th, the Red Dragons strung together four straight hits after a forceout put May on first with two down and one run in. Kelly O'Gorman singled to right. Shoonmaker and Hoyt hit infield singles, the Hoyt base hit tying the score. Feldman hit a three-run HR to left to win it.
 
Game Two:
Right now, it does not exist. If it is completed, all the stats and results will count officially. Cortland scored three unearned runs in the first. The lead went to 4-0 in the second. Petricca's two-run home run put Rochester on the board (4-2)  in the third. Scharff homered for Cortland (5-2 in the third).
 
In the UR fourth, Blackshear was one first and Jen Carson hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in place of Conforti, getting UR to within 5-4. Russo reached on an error with two down. Tori Hahn doubled to left, bringing home Russo with the fifth run. She took third when the relay was thrown away. Kaczegowicz was coming to the plate when darkness hit.
 
Elizabeth Bourne pitched three innings for Rochester, allowing five runs (two earned), six hits, no walks and one strikeout. Joelle Salisbury yielded seven hits, one walk, and fanned two. Four of the five runs against her were earned through the time when the game was abandoned.
 
Rochester is 3-10 after the game one slugfest. Cortland is 8-9.

Meyerson Shines in Game 1 of Friday Double-Header

TROY, NY – The university of Rochester picked up a Liberty League win on Friday afternoon after splitting a double-header with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Senior pitcher Luke Meyerson (1-1) was the highlight of game one pitching a complete game (7.0 innings) in an 8-4 win.  This was the second career complete game for Meyerson after doing so in a victory over Brandeis in 2016.
 
After having a late lead in game two, RPI was able to work their way on top and take a lead in the top of the eighth. The Yellowjackets had a chance in the ninth but were unable to get one across to tie it up, giving the Engineers a 7-6 win.
 
In game one, UR took an early 1-0 lead when David Reith scored on a throwing error by RPI. That lead increased to 5-0 in the top of the second when Kyle Trombley walked, stole second and third then scored on a past ball. Aaron Craig, Aiden Finch and Steve Pickering also scored in the inning.
 
RPI got on the board in the bottom of the third on a Richard Drum RBI double, then a single by Noah Normyle scored Drum to make it 5-2 after three. Rochester put another on the board in the top of the fourth on a Corey Ziring RBI single that scored Jack Herman making it 6-2.  RPI plated another in the bottom of the fifth on a Normyle single that brought home Austin Lawrence. The Yellowjackets added runs in the sixth and seventh innings while RPI scored on an error in the bottom of the seventh, getting them within four runs before grounding into a double play to end the game. 
 
The Rochester offense was led by Herman with two hits, three RBI and a run scored on the day.  Pickering went 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Ziring was 2-4 with and RBI while Craig had two hits, one RBI and two runs scored.
 
Ethann Meister and Lawrence led RPI with two hits each. Normyle and Drum also had two hits a piece with Normyle driving in two runs. J.T. Sawyer was 2-3 for the Engineers.
 
Meyerson picked up the win for Rochester, pitching 7.0 innings while giving up 10 hits and three earned runs and also striking out four. Brendan McNerney (2-2) started the game for RPI giving up four earned runs and striking out six.
 
Game two started out with UR going up 3-0 in the top of the first on a Herman double that scored two and a Drew Bankovich RBI single. Rochester plated another in the fourth before RPI got on the board in the bottom of the inning on a Michael Arboleda solo home run to make the score 4-1. Reith beat out a ground ball for an infield single in the top of the fourth scoring Trombley and making the score 5-1 in favor of Rochester. RPI was able to score two more in the bottom of the fourth to get within two runs. Criag scored for Rochester in the top half of the sixth to make the score 6-3.
 
Going into the eighth inning UR had a three run lead but was not able to hold it as RPI had a big four run inning to take the 7-6 lead. UR threatened in the ninth with two men on but struck out to end the game.
 
Reith was 3-4 for Rochester with an RBI and one run scored. Pickering also went 3-4 with a run batted in. Herman was 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored while Craig was 2-4 with two runs scored.
 
Arboleda led RPI going 4-4 in game two with two RBI and three runs scored. Normyle was 1-1 with an RBI and a run scored after a pinch-hit double.
 
Garrett Renslow went 6.0 innings on the mound for the Yellowjackets giving up two earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Christopher Palmiero pitched 5.2 innings for RPI giving up three earned runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts and zero walks. Nick Pacifico threw a scoreless 3.1 innings for the Engineers to pick up the win.

Ithaca Controls Second Half to Drop UR 19-9

By John Ambroselli, University of Rochester Athletic Communications Intern

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY – The Rochester Women's Lacrosse team looked like they had a chance to pull off an upset over 17th ranked Ithaca in the first 30 minutes of play on Wednesday before the Bombers took control and outscored the Yellowjackets 13-3 in the second half for the 19-9 victory.
 
The first half was based around possession time and defense as both teams scored six goals to head into halftime all knotted up. Brigid Regan scored her second goal of the first half with 18:21 on the clock to give Rochester the 4-2 advantage.  Ithaca scored the next two with under ten minutes to play in the first to tie it at four. The teams traded goals over the final two minutes of the half to go into the break 6-6.
 
After a quick Rochester goal by Regan to open the second half, the UR offense stalled and Ithaca kicked it into high gear, scoring seven unanswered goals to take a commanding 13-7 lead. Rochester netted two in a row with just over 18 minutes to play, but Ithaca stormed right back with six straight goals to end the game and walk away with their second Liberty League win of the season.
 
Regan led Rochester in scoring, netting 3-4 shots. Madeline Mullholand added two goals and four draw controls while Madeline Levy also had two goals with an assist. Jamison Seabury scored one and assisted on two more. Seabury also had five draw controls to lead UR. Kendra Jones scored one goal for the Yellowjackets. Conley Ernst had eight saves in 47 minutes for Rochester.
 
Baily Herr had a big day for the Bombers with six goals and one assist.  Allie Panara added for goals and three assist while also controlling nine draws. Erin McGee chipped in with four goals for Ithaca while Jaqui Hallack added two goals. Molly Long picked up five ground balls.
 
The win moves Ithaca to 5-3 (2-0 Liberty League) while Rochester drops to 0-6 (0-3 Liberty League) on the season. UR will be back in action Saturday afternoon against St. Lawrence at 2 pm.

Homers Lift UR To DH Split At Clarkson

POTSDAM, NY – The University of Rochester baseball team used the long ball in game one to split a doubleheader with Clarkson University on Saturday afternoon at Jack Phillips Stadium.

Rochester (21-16) opened the weekend between the top two teams in the Liberty League with a 7-5 win, but Clarkson (18-15) rebounded with a 9-3 victory in game two to secure the split.

After Saturday, Clarkson and Union are now tied for first in the league standings with a conference record of 13-7, just percentage points ahead of UR who sits at 14-8.  Fourth place is currently a tie between Vassar and St. Lawrence who have 12-10 records while RPI is 11-11 in sixth.  Each of the top six teams are playing one another on this final Liberty League weekend.

In game one, Rochester was led offensively by two players, seniors Matt Todd and Jake Meyerson