WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – Junior left fielder Emma D'Arpino (Johnston, R.I.) and first year catcherTaylor LeBrun (Milford, Mass.) each collected four hits to help the Simmons College softball team to a 14-4 rout over Gordon College this morning at the Spring Games at Foundation Academy Field in Winter Garden, Fla. The Sharks win their third straight game to improve to 3-1, while the Fighting Scots fall to 1-3.
Simmons rapped out a season-high 18 hits and saw five players collect multiple base knocks, while scoring multiple runs in three different innings.
D'Arpino was 4-5 with two runs batted in, while LeBrun was also 4-5 with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored for the Sharks. First year third baseman Dominique Ortiz (Lawrence, Mass.) finished the tilt going 3-4 with a run batted in and two runs scored and first year right fielder Michaela Reeves (Reading, Mass.) collected two hits in addition to a pair of runs scored and two RBI. First year first baseman Alexandra Moleski (Bridgeport, Conn.) recorded the first two hits of her collegiate career and also knocked in a pair of runs.
First year pitcher Tori Gomes (Taunton, Mass.) (1-1) earned her first collegiate victory with four innings of relief, allowing one run on five hits and struck out two batters.
Sophomore designated player Emily Kline (Park Ridge, N.J.) led Gordon with three hits in four at-bats, including a triple and drove in a run. First year third baseman Megan Jenkerson (McDonough, Ga.), sophomore first baseman Sarah Ryder (Telford, Pa.) and senior catcher Hope Zigterman (Villa Park, Ill.) all collected a pair of hits with Ryder driving in a run and Jenkerson scoring a run. Senior center fielder Marissa Meenan (Wayne, Pa.) also brought home a pair of runs with a single and scored two runs for the Fighting Scots.
The Simmons offense went to work right away with five runs in the top of the fifth, keyed by a run-scoring triple from LeBrun and RBI singles from senior center fielder Heather White (Westfield, Mass.), junior designated player Alison Gauvin (Whitefield, Maine), Moleski and D'Arpino.
Gordon answered with three runs in the bottom of the third. Meenan roped a two-run single to center field and Ryder's single up the middle brought home the third run to cut the deficit to 5-3. The Sharks got a run back in the fourth when LeBrun stroked a leadoff single to center, went to second on a passed ball, to third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a ground out to first by Reeves to make it 6-3.
The Fighting Scots scored their final run of the day in the fifth when Meenan was hit by a pitch with one out and came around to score on a triple to left by Kline to pull them to within 6-4.
Simmons scored two runs in the sixth to increase its lead to 8-4 and put the contest out of reach with six runs in the seventh to make it 14-4. Moleski keyed the sixth with an RBI single and Ortiz, Reeves and D'Arpino highlighted the seventh with run-scoring singles.
The Sharks will be in action again on Thursday, March 10 when they return to Foundation Academy for a 3:00 p.m. tilt with Wheaton College (Ill.), while Gordon plays Thiel College at 9:00 a.m. on the same day.