NEWTON, Mass. – Simmons College Softball swept the Lasell College Lasers 9-2 and 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field. Simmons improves to 17-7 overall and 10-4 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play while the Lasell falls to 13-7 on the season and 6-10 in league contests.
Game One – Simmons 9 – Lasell 2
Lasell was victimized by defensive miscues as the Sharks took the opening game 9-2 while benefiting from six unearned runs in the game.
Santina Antoshak tripled, scored a run and drove one in for Lasell and Courtney Moen plated a run with a single but Lasell was unable to score enough to offset their defensive challenges. Eileen Bergin (Arlington, Mass.) started and went four innings, allowing nine runs, only three earned, on 12 hits to take the loss. Samantha Whynot pitched three scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out a pair for the Lasers.
Jen Field (Windham, Maine) went 2-for-4 at the plate for Simmons, scoring a pair of runs and knocking in three while Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.) finished with three singles in four at-bats with two runs scored and one driven in. Lauren Backhaus (Windsor, Conn.) went all seven innings for Simmons, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out 10 in the game to collect the victory.
Simmons got on the board in the top of the second inning using a lead-off double by Alaina DeNoncour (Johnston, R.I.) followed by a single by Mulcahy that made it 1-0. Mulcahy came across on a single by Jen Field and Simmons added one more on a Lasell error to take a 3-0 lead in the early going.
Bergin retired the first two batters for Simmons in the top of the third before a pair of Lasell miscues allowed the Sharks to pad their lead. Two-out singles by DeNoncour and Mulcahy gave Simmons a pair of base runners, and a Lasell error allowed Backhaus to reach, loading the bases. A timely single by Field scored two runners, and a Hannah Cunningham single combined with a bad throw allowed Simmons to push their lead to 7-0 before Lasell escaped the inning.
Lasell bounced back in the home half of the third inning, getting a two-out single from Michaelea Grady (Worcester, Mass.) followed by a triple by Antoshak that got Lasell on the board. Moen then followed with a single that scored Antoshak and Lasell made it a 7-2 ballgame.
An RBI double by Jess Uschman (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and an RBI single by Mulcahy got the two runs back for Simmons in the top of the fourth and left Lasell trailing 9-2.
Lasell threatened in the bottom of the seventh, using a lead-off walk to Denise Archetto (Cranston, R.I.) and a one-out single by Emily DeAngelis (Shelton, Conn.) to get a pair of base runners on, but a fielder's choice and a strikeout ended the threat and the ballgame.
Game Two – Simmons 4 – Lasell 2
Simmons used a three-run fifth inning and a shut-down performance in relief from Backhaus to complete the sweep with a 4-2 victory over the Lasers.
Eileen Bergin bounced back for Lasell in the second game of the day, hurling all seven innings and striking out 10 while allowing four runs and collecting her second losing decision of the day. Nicole LeBlanc (Easton, Mass.) singled and doubled for the Lasers, scoring a run, while Molly Pritchett (Lebanon, Maine) and Bergin each added doubles at the dish.
Heather White (Westfield, Mass.) singled twice, scored two runs and collected a pair of RBI's for Simmons, Christina Mulcahy had an RBI triple and Briana Rastello (Salem, N.H.) singled and doubled and scored a run. Amanda Cordeiro (Fall River, Mass.) started on the slab for the Sharks, allowing two runs on six hits in three innings of work before giving way to Backhaus who earned her second victory in the circle on the afternoon as she limited Lasell to one hit and one walk while fanning three over the final four innings of the contest.
A lead-off single by Heather White in the top of the second inning got things started for Simmons as she advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt then following a foul-out to first base for the second out, White came in to score on a single by Emma D'Arpino (Johnston, R.I.). A single and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Simmons, but Bergin induced an inning-ending groundout to wriggle out of further trouble.
LeBlanc led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double and Archetto followed with a single that gave Lasell runners on second and third with nobody out. Emily Noll (Weymouth, Mass.) singled, scoring both base runners and giving Lasell their first lead of the day, 2-1. Noll's single chased Cordeiro from the game as Simmons went back to game one winner Backhaus to try to cool down Lasell. A walk and a sacrifice bunt again gave Lasell runners on second and third, this time with one out, but Noll was thrown out at the plate on Michaelea Grady's grounder to third and Backhaus recorded a strikeout for the third out.
Briana Rastello doubled with one-out in the top of the fifth inning for Simmons, and a single by Emily Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) gave Simmons two base runners on with only one out. White singled, scoring Rastello and Cunningham and a triple by Mulcahy scored White and gave Simmons a 4-2 lead. Bergin escaped without further damage with the Lasers trailing by a pair.
Lasell was unable to take advantage of a one-out double by Bergin in the bottom of the fifth inning and were set down in order in the sixth and seventh, falling 4-2.
Simmons will return to the diamond on Sunday April 13th when they host Mount Ida at UMass-Boston with the first pitch slated for 12:00 p.m. Lasell will travel to the University of St. Joseph's on Sunday April 13th where they will take on the Blue Jays in another GNAC clash.