Courtesy of UR Athletics
The softball team swept the Liberty League opener on Saturday, April 7 with two wins against Rochester Institute of Technology, 9-2 and 13-2. These victories extended UR’s winning streak to nine games and gave the Yellowjackets a 14-7 overall record.
In the first game, freshman pitcher Sarah Wayson pitched five innings, giving up 10 hits and two earned runs. This allowed RIT to maintain a two-run lead through the first four innings. In the fifth, the ’Jackets scored their first point off of a run by sophomore second baseman Kristen Baldino. Then, senior centerfielder Katie McLean and sophomore shortstop Meghan Hennessy loaded the bases with singles of their own, setting up sophomore first baseman Nina Korn’s grand slam, which put UR up five going into the sixth inning. The Yellowjackets racked up four more runs over the next two innings, while RIT’s players floundered and never came close to regaining the lead.
Korn ended the game with three hits and six RBIs. McClean and Hennessy each managed two runs, and Wayson struck out six of RIT’s players, making her 6-2 on the season.
UR started off much stronger the second time around, running the score up to 7-0 before a hit by RIT pitcher Kelly Meegan gave her team two runs in the sixth. One good hit, one wild pitch and two home runs later, the Yellowjackets claimed their second victory of the day.
Junior left fielder Gena Bradford Tume homered twice, in the fifth and seventh innings, earning her two runs and three RBIs. Korn, Hennessy, Baldino and freshman pitcher Brittany Grage each had two runs. Grage, who pitched all seven innings, improved to 4-3 on the season, balancing out the two earned runs she allowed with seven strikeouts.
Softball’s next game is an away doubleheader against SUNY Cortland starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 13. Cortland’s current record is 22-4 and they are undefeated at home, making them UR’s toughest opponent yet.
Ondo is a member of the class of 2014.
