Simmons Softball swept Saint Joseph's of Connecticut in a Monday afternoon doubleheader at home. The Sharks won game one 6-5, and pulled out a 1-0 win in the evening game.
With the win, Simmons is now ranked eight in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a GNAC record of 8-10 GNAC, 10-19 overall.
Game One
Simmons was down 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, but scored two runs in that inning to take the win.
Leading the offensive charge was Annie Thompson (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), who went 2-3 with a home run and three runs scored. Emily Nalband (Litchfield, Conn.) hit 2-3 and scored the game-winning run, and Desiree Bourassa (Rochester, Vt.) also had two hits on the day.
SJC scored two in top of the first. The Sharks came back and cut the lead in half with a leadoff solo home run by Thompson.
SJC scored two more in the second, but the Sharks came back again in the bottom half of the second and scored three to tie up the game.
The game remained tied until SJC scored a run in the top of the fourth.
In bottom of seventh, Thompson was walked, Nalband singled, and with two on and one out, Ashley Wheeler (Nashua, N.H.) came through with a clutch RBI single that scored Thompson and tied the game.
With Nalband at third with one out, Amanda Gould (Fremont, N.H.) hit a fielder's choice to the second baseman, but Nalband beat the throw and scored the winning run.
Pitcher Sammi Letizio (Windham, N.H.) earned the win, going 7 innings, giving up 9 hits, 5 strikeouts and 4 walks.
Game Two
Game two was a pitcher's dual. Simmons' Courteney Collier (Bolton, Mass.) only gave up 3 hits and the Sharks defense held the Bluejays scoreless through 7 innings.
Simmons only had 3 hits on the night, with the biggest one coming in the bottom of the sixth when Thompson hit her second solo shot of the day, scoring the only and winning run of the game. The Sharks held SJC in the top of the seventh, putting them down in order to seal the victory.
Collier got the win, going 7 innings, giving up 3 hits, striking out 3 and walking no one.
The Sharks return to action on Tuesday, April 14 when they face the Lasell College Lazers away at 3:00pm.