NEWTON, Mass -- Simmons Softball scored seven runs in two games to take two Great Northeast Athletic Conference wins from the Lasell College Lasers. The Lasers saw a 7th inning rally fall short as they lost 4-3 in game one of the doubleheader, and then Sharks freshman Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) twirled a one-hit gem to defeat the hosts 3-0 in the second game of the day.
The first game of the day began as a pitcher's duel, going scoreless through the first three innings as neither team could get much going at the plate. Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) opened the top of the 4th for the Sharks with a walk, and was advanced to second on a nice sacrifice bunt by Amanda Gould (Kingston, N.H.). Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.) drove Cunningham in with an RBI single and advancing to second on the throw. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Mulcahy scored on Amanda Cordeiro's (Fall River, Mass.) RBI single to give Simmons a 2-0 lead. Cordeiro scored on a double by Caillin Pagel (Dorchester, Mass.) to give the Sharks their third run of the inning. Cassie Wadden (Brookfield, Mass.) got the next two hitters via strikeout and groundout to avoid giving up any more runs.
The Lasers picked up their first hit of the afternoon when led off the sixth with a single, but was stranded on third base as Lasell remained scoreless. Simmons again used small-ball to score their fourth run of the game in the top of the 7th inning. Hannah Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) singled, and advanced on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on an RBI single by Katie McCarthy (Falmouth, Maine).
Lasell would not go quietly however, loading the bases with one out after Denise Archetto (Cranston, R.I.) opened the seventh with a single, Candace Hankard (Wakefield, Mass.) reached on an error and Michaela Grady (Worcester, Mass.) knocked a one-out single. Mary Fontaine (Nashua, N.H.) drove a two run double to right center field, scoring Archetto and Hankard and drawing the Lasers within two at 4-2. Courtney Moen (Brookfield, Mass.) grounded out, scoring Grady and putting the tying run on third base with two outs, but Lasell was unable to knock in the equalizer falling 4-3.
Cordeiro secured the win on the mound for Simmons, going all seven inning while allowing three runs on four hits and striking out six. Wadden took the loss for Lasell, allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out 5 through seven innings.
Game Two: Simmons opened the second game by scoring a pair of runs in the first courtesy of a Gould two-run homerun and then turned the game over to hurler Backhaus who took care of the rest. Backhaus allowed a bunt single to Brianna Gowans (Berlin, VT) to open the bottom of the first, and then didn't allow a hit the rest of the afternoon.
The Sharks tacked an insurance run in the sixth, and Backhaus proved to be too much for the Lasers, striking out 15 while allowing two walks and one hit to pick up the complete game victory.
Simmons is now 9-8 overall and 5-1 in the GNAC, while Lasell fell to 1-15 overall and 1-5 in the conference. Simmons will return to action on March 30th when they face-off with Mount Ida in GNAC play, while the Lasers will return to the diamond when they host Suffolk University in a GNAC doubleheader starting at 3pm on March 30th.