The St. Lawrence University softball team played a pair of highly competitive games against one of the best teams in the Liberty League, but were unable to break the University of Rochester's winning streak in a pair of losses to the Yellowjackets on Senior Day at Saints Softball Field on Saturday.
 
Rochester — which extended its winning streak to 22 straight games — was able to take advantage of big innings in both games, scoring four runs in the seventh inning to pull away for a 6-1 win in the opener, then coming back from a 4-1 deficit with five runs in the fourth inning in a 7-4 win in the nightcap.
 
Savannah Nowak was a combined 5-for-7 to lead Rochester, while Zola Braswell was 2-for-3 on the day, including a pinch hit in the opener, to lead the Saints.
 
St. Lawrence seniors Jacee Casebolt, Cora Ferguson, Emily Harvey and Tori Rotundo were honored for their contributions to the program between the games.

"Although it might not reflect on the scoreboard, today was a great battle," said head coach Rosie Phillips "We had a strong day offensively and saw great effort by our pitchers in the circle and with a couple of key plays in the field. I'm really proud of how we played and we're excited to keep the momentum of these two strong showings into next weekend."

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Game 1 — Rochester 6, St. Lawrence 1

The opener started as a pitcher's duel, as neither Rochester's Molly Broccolo nor Casebolt allowed a run in the first four innings.
 
The Yellowjackets struck first, with Nowak scoring on an RBI groundout by Hunter Gilbreath in the fifth inning. Rochester added another run in the sixth, with Bailey Nicholoff scoring from third on an error off a throw to third base with Nicholoff sliding back to the bag after Hannah Keiper stole second.
 
Rochester broke the game open with four runs in the seventh. Alexis Klee plated one run with an RBI single, and Ally Kim hit a 2-run triple to give Rochester a 5-0 lead, then later scored on an RBI groundout by Nicholoff.
 
Harvey scored the Saints lone run on a sacrifice fly by Vivian Johnson in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Kim was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, while Nowak was 2-for-3 with a double.
 
Broccolo scattered seven hits in a complete-game victory for Rochester, striking out four with no walks.
 
Seven different players registered a hit for the Saints, who had at least one base runner in every inning.
 
Casebolt had a solid outing in the circle to be the tough-luck loser for St. Lawrence, allowing just one unearned run on two hits over five innings. Layne Fritz pitched the final two innings for the Saints, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits with two walks and one strikeout.

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Game 2 – Rochester 7, St. Lawrence 4

Unlike the first game, fans didn't have wait long for the offenses to start putting runs on the board in the nightcap, as Rochester scored one run on a fielding error in the top of the first, but the Saints responded with four of their own to build a 4-1 lead.
 
St. Lawrence's first five batters reached in the bottom of the first, with Johnson starting the inning with a blast down the right field line for a leadoff triple. Tori Rotundo reached on a fielder's choice, with Johnson diving back safely to third base, before Meredith Rose hit an RBI single through the right side to plate Johnson to tie the game, 1-1.
 
Ferguson walked to load the bases, and Stella VanGee was hit by a pitch to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. Rose was cut down at home on a fielder's choice, but Braswell was hit by a pitch to bring in Ferguson. VanGee scored on an RBI groundout by Sofia Camillieri to round out the scoring in the first inning for the Saints.
 
Rochester used a five-run fourth inning to surge back to a 6-4 lead, thanks to RBI singles by Madi Turner, Molly Mason and Kim, an RBI double by Gilbreath, and an RBI groundout by Klee.
 
Nowak, who was 3-for-4 in the second game, added an insurance run with an RBI single in the seventh.
 
Gilbreath was 2-for-3 with a double, while Jenna Gorecki was 2-for-4 with a double for Rochester.
 
Camillieri was 2-for-4 to lead the Saints' offense.
 
Maddie White earned the victory in the circle for Rochester, allowing just one baserunner over the final 4.1 innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Lauren Keys started the game and did not record an out; Christin Napierkowski went 2.2 innings and was relieved by White after the Saints loaded the bases with three straight singles in the third inning.
 
Fritz started and finished the game, allowing six runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings. Casebolt got five outs in relief in the middle of the game, allowing just one run on three hits.
 
Rochester improved to 25-5 overall and 8-0 in Liberty League play, while the Saints fell to 7-19, 3-5. St. Lawrence goes on the road next weekend for conference doubleheaders at Union and Ithaca.