Rochester softball plated two runs in the top of the eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie and then held off Aberdeen in the bottom of the eighth to secure a 7-5 road victory in eight innings on Wednesday.
Rochester took an early, 4-1 lead in the third inning before Aberdeen countered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take its first lead of the game. But the Warriors tied it up in the fifth before the two squads played to a stalemate until the top of the eighth.
Layna Demers put Rochester up for good after scoring on a bunt, then Cheyenne Justice made it 7-5 on Mckenna Vassar’s RBI single.
Demers led the Warriors’ offense, going 3 for 4 with three runs and an RBI. Kassidy Byrd was 1 for 4 with two RBIs and Vassar was 2 for 5 with an RBI.
Senior duo Sadie Knutson and Lakota Escott teamed up to stymie Aberdeen’s batters. Both went four innings, with Escott starting and allowing no runs with four hits and five strikeouts. Knutson struck out six while allowing three earned runs on six hits and a walk.
Rochester next heads to league-leading Tumwater for a 4:30 p.m. matchup on Monday.
