NEWTON, Mass. -- Simmons Softball defeated the Lasell College Lasers 7-0 on a rainy Monday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The game was called in the top of the seventh due to thunder and lightening.
In the first inning, the Sharks defense took care of the first two batters before Lasell's Amanda Szida singled up the middle to start up the Lasers offense. Simmons pitcher Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) struck out the next batter for the third out and her 50th strikeout this season.
In the bottom half of the first, Simmons senior Ari King (Westford, Mass.) doubled to right center and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Backhaus picked up an RBI as she hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score King from third. Alaina DeNoncour (Johnston, R.I.) followed with a hard hit single to right center but Lasell's Eileen Bergin ended the Sharks run with a strikeout.
After walking the Denise Arche to start the second, Simmons catcher Victoria Luongo (Medford, Mass.) made the catch on a pop up bunt by Emily DeAngelis for the first out and Backhaus struck out Erin Larghi and Burgin to end the inning.
Simmons added to their 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as freshman Heather White (Westfield, Mass.) singled down the left field line to start the inning. Luongo hit a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt as White advanced to third and Cailin Pagel (Dorchester, Mass.) reached first on a walk. White doubled the Sharks lead to two when Bergin threw a wild pitch past catcher Nicole LeBlanc. King reached first on an error by the second baseman to score Pagel and Jen Field (Windham, Maine) to give the Sharks a 4-0 lead.
After a scoreless third and fourth and fifth inning, the Lasers had an opportunity to close the gap in the top of the sixth when Santina Antoshak singled with a bunt down the first base line and Courtney Moen followed with a single through the left side. With runners in scoring position, the Sharks made the out at second to end the inning and deny the Lasers a run.
As the rain began to fall hard, the Sharks posted a three-run bottom of the sixth as Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.) reached on an error and White followed with a walk. Both runners advanced on a pass ball before Pagel singled to score Mulcahy from third. Field stepped up to the plate and lined out deep to the second baseman, enough for White to score on the play. Hannah Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) reached first on another Lasell error as Pagel ran home to give the Sharks a 7-0 lead.
With just one inning left to play, thunder sent both teams inside. The game was called half an hour later and the second game has been rescheduled to Wednesday, April 10th at 4:00 p.m.
With the win, the Sharks move to 11-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference, while the Lasers fall to 4-11 and 1-4 in the GNAC. Backhaus picks up her seventh win the year, pitching all six innings, allowing just three hits with nine strikeouts. Bergin records the loss for the Lasers.