BOSTON, Mass. -- In only the third and fourth games between inter-city rivals UMass Boston (5-9) and Simmons College (8-4), the Sharks got the better of the Beacons, taking both ends of the doubleheader at the UMB Softball Field Friday afternoon.
Simmons slipped by the Beacons with a 3-1 win in Game One behind two late runs, took an early lead to earn a 4-3 win and the doubleheader sweep in Game Two.
Game One: Simmons College 3, UMass Boston 1
Simmons used three late Beacons errors to score a run each in the sixth and seventh and earn a 3-1 win over UMB in game number one.
While the Sharks offense struggled to get anything going, sophomore Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) was dominant on the mound for Simmons. The reigning GNAC Rookie of the Year threw a complete-game three-hitter, allowing one earned run and striking out eight. For the Beacons, Emily Gray was the tough-luck loser, allowing five hits and one earned run in seven innings.
The Sharks went on top 1-0 in the top of the third, when Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.) led off with a single and came home to score on a two-out RBI single from Hannah Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.).
UMass Boston evened the score in the fifth, when Erika Vecchiet broke up Backhaus' no-hit bid with a double to left field. Two batters late, Lyndsey Capra laced an RBI single over the third-baseman's head to score Vecchiet and tie the game at 1-1.
Simmons went ahead for good in the next half-inning, when Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) raced home from second on a ball that never left the infield, thanks to a pair of Beacons' errors.
The Sharks tacked on another run in the seventh, thanks to a pair of singles and a Beacons error and Backhaus struck out UMB 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
Game Two: Simmons College 4, UMass Boston 3
The battle continued in game two, as the two teams traded leads and scored seven runs over the first three innings, before both sophomore starting pitchers settled in.
The Beacons jumped all over sophomore pitcher Amanda Cordeiro (Fall River, Mass.) in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with one out, but only pushed one across on a sacrifice fly from Hemstock, thanks to some stellar defense from Sharks.
Simmons evened the score at 1-1 in the second, after three straight singles and almost made it 2-1, if not for a tremendous block of the plate from Samantha Hemstock.
The Sharks grabbed the lead for good in the third, when they plated three runs behind three hits and a walk. H. Cunningham led off the inning with a walk and moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. She easily scored when E. Cunningham singled up the middle to make it 2-1 Simmons. Alaina DeNoncour (Johnston, R.I.) doubled to left field, putting runners on second and third, and Backhaus made it 3-1 with another sharp-single up the middle. Mulcahy put the Sharks ahead 4-1 on a controversial groundout, as DeNoncour was ruled safe on a play at the plate in which Hemstock appeared to have the plate blocked.
Cordeiro picked up her third win of the year, allowing just three earned runs over seven innings.
UMass Boston's Michelle Zullo gave up four runs, three earned on eight hits and struck out two. The Beacons put together a mini two-out rally in the seventh, with back-to-back baserunners reaching, but the Sharks defense remained strong to secure the win.
The Sharks will return to the UMB Softball Field Saturday at 2:00 p.m. for a doubleheader against GNAC foe Albertus Magnus University.