CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Simmons College softball was defeated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 5-1, this afternoon at Briggs Field in Cambridge, Mass. The Sharks fall to 4-5 on the season, while the Engineers win their season opener to improve to 1-0.

Senior center fielder Heather White (Westfield, Mass.) and first years Dominique Ortiz (Lawrence, Mass.), Taylor LeBrun (Milford, Mass.) and Michaela Reeves (Reading, Mass.) all finished the day going 1-3 for Simmons. LeBrun's base knock was an run scoring double.

Reeves (2-3) suffered the loss for the Sharks, giving up four runs on seven hits in three and two-thirds innings of work.

Senior starting pitcher Alexandra Marshall (Glen Head, N.Y.) (1-0) threw 96 pitches, including 69 for strikes, and allowed one unearned run on three hits and struck out 11 batters in six innings to earn the victory for MIT. Freshman Ravenne Nasser (Methuen, Mass.) came on for a clean seventh that featured two strikeouts in her first collegiate appearance.

Junior third baseman Monica Shifflet (Poway, Calif.) knocked in a pair of runs to go with a single and a walk for the Engineers, while sophomore second baseman Zoe Hinton (Aurora, Colo.) clouted a solo home run. Junior left fielder Natalie Shifflet (Poway, Calif.) and first year designated player Erika Anderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) each singled in a run as well.  

In the bottom of the second, Hinton put MIT on the board with her second career homerun on a ball that cleared the fence in the deepest part of the park. The score remained the same until the bottom of the fourth when MIT added three to its total. 

First year Lisa Zhu (Columbus, Ohio) came around to score the second run after stealing second as a pinch runner for senior Tori Jensen (Holliston, Mass.), who led off the frame with a single up the middle. Monica Shifflet cleared the bases with a two-run single to center field to give the Engineers a 4-1 lead. 

Simmons registered a run off a pair of miscues by the MIT defense in the top of the sixth. Senior shortstop Mikaela Caracciolo (North Attleboro, Mass.) reached via a throwing error and scored on a double to left field off the bat of LeBrun.

MIT added an insurance run in the bottom half of the frame as Natalie Shifflet plated junior right fielder Helen Rosenthal (Bethesda, Md.) on a ground out to second. 

The Sharks return to the diamond on Wednesday, March 30 when they head up the street for a doubleheader at Wentworth Institute of Technology at 3:30 p.m.on Sweeney Field in Boston, while the Engineers play Kalamazoo College on March 19 at 1:00 p.m. at Hancock Park in Clermont, Fla.