NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Simmons Softball finished its six-game stretch with a split against the Norwich University Cadets Wednesday afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference action.
Game one lived up the hype as Simmons' ace and the GNAC's top statistical pitcher Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) hooked up with Norwich's Corinne Baita for a pitcher's duel that went scoreless for six innings.
Simmons (22-8, 15-5 GNAC) finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning with four runs on Baita that proved to be more than enough run support for Backhaus.
Baita, who had struggled with her control early in the game before settling in through the middle innings, finally had her wildness catch up to her as she plunked the leadoff hitter Cailin Pagel (Dorchester, Mass.) and then walked Hannah Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.). Mikaela Caracciolo (North Attleboro, Mass.) bunt singled to load up the bases and Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) provided the big hit for the Sharks to bust the game open by lacing a ground rule double down the right field line to score Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.), who pinch ran for Pagel.
Simmons added two more runs with Carracciolo scoring on a throwing error and then Heather White (Westfield, Mass.) plating Emily Cunningham for the Sharks' fourth run of the inning.
Norwich wasn't able to muster anything in the bottom half of the inning as Backhaus picked up her GNAC-leading 13th win of the season, while striking out six and shutting out the Cadets for the first time since its third game of the season. Baita took the loss to fall to 9-6 on the year after giving up two earned runs on six hits and six walks while striking out eight.
Norwich didn't take long to get its bats going in the second game as junior shortstop Abby Belcher got on with sharp single to left field after the Cadets' offensive catalyst was held hitless in the opener. She moved over to second on sacrifice bunt by Payton Warner. After Kelly Travers walked to put two runners aboard, Noel Byers finally got Norwich on the board for the day with a double that found the left-centerfield gap and scored Belcher.
Following an Angie Hershberger pop out, Briana Day went back up the middle to score Travers and Byers and push the Norwich lead to 3-0. In the top of the third, Backhaus struck again for Simmons, this time at the plate as the sophomore standout launched a towering home run over the left field fence for her third homer of the season to tie the game back up at 3.
However, Norwich answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with Day launching a two-out two-run moon shot of her own to score Byers as well after she reached on a Sharks error.
The Cadets never relinquished the lead again from there as each team would go on to add one more run with Byers recording an RBI single to plate Warner in the bottom of the fifth and then Simmons getting it back down to two runs again on a RBI single by Pagel in the top of the sixth.
Belcher made a game-saving play to allow the Cadets to escape further damage on the next hitter by full-extension lay out to knock down a sharp hit ball by Hannah Cunningham. Belcher then flipped the ball over to Byers standing at second base for a force out to keep the game at 6-4.
The Sharks return to action on Saturday, April 20th when they host current GNAC leader Emerson College at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. The Sharks finish the regular season on Sunday at Saint Joseph's College (Me.).