BOSTON, Mass. – The Simmons College softball team was swept by Norwich University in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference twinbill today at Rotch Field in Boston, Mass.   The Sharks fall to 6-7 overall and 0-2 in GNAC play, while the Cadets win their fourth straight game to improve to 4-10 overall and a perfect 4-0 in league play.

Senior shortstop Mikaela Caracciolo (North Attleboro, Mass.) led Simmons with three hits on the day, including a double and also scored three times. Junior second baseman Brianna Rastello (Salem, N.H.) and first year catcher Taylor LeBrun (Milford, Mass.) each collected a hit in both games for the Sharks. First year lefthander Michaela Reeves (Reading, Mass.) (3-4) suffered the loss in the first game, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and fanned a batter in five and a third innings of work. Sophomore Cat Record (Cotuit, Mass.) (0-1) was saddled with the loss in the nightcap, giving up three unearned runs on three hits, while striking out a batter in two and two-thirds innings of relief. 

First year shortstop Naomi Rinaldo (Middlefield, Conn.) was 4-4 with a double and a triple, while driving in a run and scoring two others in game one and doubled and scored a run in the second contest for Norwich. Classmate Emily Oliver's (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) double in the ninth inning of the second game plated the eventual game-winning run for the Cadets. She also smacked a double in game one and picked up the victory to improve to 2-3 from the pitching circle, tossing seven complete innings and allowing three runs on five hits and a walk to go with seven strikeouts. Senior left fielder Taylor Morris (Haverhill, N.H.) also contributed for the visitors with three hits and a run batted in. First year hurler Rachel Johnson (Stockbridge, Vt.) (2-6) picked up the win in the second game, going nine innings, while yielding two runs (one earned) on four hits and eight walks in addition to striking out nine batters. 

Sophomore first baseman Kassy Kazimierczak (Adams, Mass.) snapped a 3-3 tie with a home run over the left field fence in the top of the sixth inning of game one to give the Cadets the eventual game-winning run at 4-3. 

Both teams scored a single run in the opening frame of game one. Rinaldo stroked a leadoff single to center field and later scored on a single to left off the bat of Morris to give the Cadets a 1-0 edge. Simmons matched the run in the bottom of the frame when Caracciolo led off with a single to left and later scored on an error to make it 1-1. 

Norwich took a 3-1 lead with a pair of two-out runs in the top of the fifth. Oliver cracked a double to left and Rinaldo followed with a run-scoring triple to right and later came around to score on an error to give the visitors a 3-1 margin. The Sharks also came through with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Caracciolo doubled down the left field line and scored on a Rastello single to center. LeBrun followed with an RBI single to left to knot the contest at 3-3.

Game two saw both teams combine for nine hits and two runs through the first seven innings of play. 

The Cadets got on the board first with a two-out rally in the first inning. Morris reached on an error and later came around to score on a single to left off the bat of senior catcher Angie Hershberger (Felton, Calif.). Simmons tied the contest in the third when Caracciolo and Rastello collected back-to-back one-out singles and both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Caracciolo scampered home on a ground out from LeBrun to make it 1-1. 

Neither team could score through the next four innings to send the game into extra frames. Rinaldo started the eighth inning as a runner on second base and scored on a throwing error to first on a sacrifice bunt attempt for Norwich. The Sharks managed to knot the game in the bottom of the inning with a run to make it 2-2. Senior pinch-runner Amy Maher (Milton, Mass.) also began the inning on second base as per the international tie-breaker rule and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of first year third baseman Dominique Ortiz (Lawrence, Mass.). 

Kazimierczak scored from second base on a two-out double to left by Oliver to give the Cadets a 3-2 edge in the ninth inning. The Norwich inning was kept alive by an error and Oliver later scored when senior centerfielder Payton Warner (Harwich, Mass.) lined a single off the pitcher's glove to make it 4-2. Simmons was retired in order in the ninth as Norwich completed the sweep. 

The Sharks return to GNAC action tomorrow when they travel to New Britain, Conn.) to take on University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) for a twinbill at 12:00 p.m., while the Cadets head to Standish, Maine tomorrow to play Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at Noon.