SOUTH BOSTON, Mass. -- Simmons softball picked up their second doubleheader sweep of the week, defeating the Emmanuel College Saints 8-0 in five innings and 2-0 in seven in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at UMass Boston.

The first game remained scoreless through three innings before the Sharks offense picked up six hits and scored five runs. Katie McCarthy (Falmouth, Maine) started things off with a single and Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) followed suit with another single. Senior Amanda Gould (Kingston, N.H.) singled to center field to drive in McCarthy and then stole second base. Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.) picked up two RBI's for her single, which drove in Cunningham and Gould.

With one on, freshman Alaina DeNoncour (Johnston, R.I.) hit a line drive single to advance Mulcahy to third. Cailin Pagel (Dorchester, Mass.) reached first base on an error by third baseman Kayla Howard before Jen Field (Windham, Maine) singled to the left side to score Mulcahy. Junior Ari King (Westford, Mass.) grounded out to the short stop but recorded the RBI for sending DeNoncour across home plate. The Sharks added their sixth run in the bottom of the fifth when Gould doubled and later scored when Mulcahy was picked off first base.

The Simmons defense held the Saints scoreless and put the game away in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs off four hits. With three singles in a row by DeNoncour, Pagel and Field, Hannah Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) picked up an RBI, driving in Pagel. McCarthy singled to score Field to end the game 8-0.

Simmons freshman pitcher Amanda Cordiero pitched all six innings, giving up only three hits and recording three strikeouts. Kelly Lloid picked up the loss for Saints.

The second game was a duel of the defenses as Saints pitcher Julia Levins held the Sharks to six hits. Simmons took a 1-0 lead in the second when DeNoncour reached on an error by second baseman Carina Paz and scored Mulcahy from first.

Levins singled in the top of the third, but Sharks pitcher Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) caught a pop up by Julia Demirali to end the inning.

Simmons doubled their lead in the third when E. Cunningham singled through the middle to score McCarthy who had reached on an error from first. Emmanuel had an opportunity to tie the game in the fourth off a double by Jennifer Garrity, but Backhaus struck out two to end the inning.

The Saints added one hit in the fifth and one in the sixth but were unable to convert, ending the game 2-0.

Backhaus pitched all seven innings, recording four hits and 13 strikeouts to pick up her second win of the weekend while Levins recorded the loss for the Saints.

The Sharks return to field on Monday, April 9th for a GNAC doubleheader against Norwich University at Lasell College beginning at 3:00 p.m. The Saints host Massachusetts Maritime on April 10th at 7:00 p.m