BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore left fielder Ivy Vann (Bend. Ore.) was 4-6 with three triples and knocked in a pair of runs and sophomore starting pitcher Hailey Yabroudy (Amherst, N.H.) hurled a four-hit shutout to lead the Simmons University softball team to a Great Northeast Athletic Conference double-header sweep over Regis (Mass.), winning the opener, 12-2 in five innings, before taking the nightcap, 8-0 in six frames, this afternoon at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The twinbill was the conference opener for both teams as the Sharks improve to 8-16 and have won four straight and five of their last six. The home team is now 2-0 in league play, while the Pride drops to 3-15 and 0-2. 

For the third straight double-header, Simmons pitching allowed fewer than 10 hits, giving up nine, and won both games by the eight-run mercy rule. The Sharks rapped out 25 hits for the afternoon, including six triples and three doubles. 

Vann's three triples in game two are a school record in addition to scoring five times and stealing two bases for the day, while Yabroudy recorded her first collegiate shutout to improve to 2-6 and struck out three batters against no walks in six complete innings for the Sharks. Sophomore Christie Bott (Seaford, N.Y.)was 3-6 with a double, three runs batted in, three runs scored and a stolen base, while first year shortstop Allie Mulhern (Westford, Mass.) finished 3-5 with a triple and two RBI. First years Shannon McMahon (El Cajon, Calif.) and Alex Morang (Windham, Maine) each collected a pair of hits, including a double and drove in two runs, while senior first base Dom Ortiz (Lawrence, Mass.) registered three hits in seven at-bats. 

Junior first base Ellery Rasmussen (Kingston, N.H.) led Regis, going 3-6 with her first home run of the season and two runs scored, while senior left fielder Kelsey Grimard (Pelham, N.H.) was 2-6 with a stolen base. First year Erin Murphy (Bedford, N.H.) also contributed with an RBI triple. 

The Pride scored the first run of game one, before Simmons scored 12 unanswered runs with two runs in the first, four in the second, two in the third and four in the fourth. 

Rasmussen put Regis on the board with a two-out blast over the left field fence for a 1-0 lead. The Sharks answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning when Bott hit a fly ball to deep right field that was mishandled by the right fielder and continued to roll to the fence as Bott and junior center fielder Lauren Del Vacchio (Murrieta, Calif.) both circled the bases to give Simmons a 2-1 edge. The Sharks took a five-run lead in the second after a four-run outburst. Simmons loaded the bases in the inning to set up Morang scoring from third on a wild pitch before Vann plated a pair of runs with a single to make it 5-1. Bott followed with a run-scoring double to give the Sharks a 6-1 margin. 

First year starting pitcher Maddie Castigliego (Bristol, R.I.) led off the third with a single to right field, before Morang tripled down the right field line to bring Castigliego home. Sophomore right fielder Danielle Carson (Ashland, Mass.) later grounded out to drive in Morang and give Simmons an 8-1 lead. Vann and Bott both drew walks to open the fourth, before Ortiz knocked in Vann with a single to center. Sophomore second base Marissa Santoro (Franklin, Mass.) came through with a two-run double and Mulhern brought home the final Sharks run with a sacrifice fly to give Simmons a 12-1 advantage after four innings. 

The Pride closed out the scoring when Rasmussen laced a single to left and Murphy later smacked a triple to right to score Rasmussen to set the final at 12-2. 

Castigliego (5-4) picked up the victory for the Sharks, yielding two runs on five hits and two walks to go with six strikeouts. First year right-hander Nicole Tebo (Kingston, N.H.) (1-3) was tagged with the loss for Regis, giving up eight runs (six earned) on eight hits in three innings. 

Yabroudy did not allow a baserunner past first base and required just 47 pitches to earn the game two win and improve to 2-6 on the year for Simmons. The Sharks scored three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to reach the eight-run margin needed to end the contest an inning early. 

Simmons broke into the scoring column with a run in the bottom of the second when Santoro reached on an error to open the frame and later came around to score on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Morang to give the home team a 1-0 edge. The Sharks doubled their lead in the third when Vann legged out a triple to left-center and scored on a Bott single to left for a 2-0 margin. The pair repeated the exercise in the fourth when Vann ripped a lead-off triple down the left field line and scored on another Bott single. Bott later scored on a two-out single up the middle off the bat of McMahon and Mulhern drove in another run with her own single up the middle to give Simmons a 5-0 cushion. 

Vann began the sixth with her third triple of the contest, but it was Ortiz who knocked her in this time with a single to left for the Sharks. McMahon came through with an RBI triple to right center to score sophomore pinch-runner Emily Barbella (Littleton, Mass.) with the seventh Simmons run. The Sharks ended the contest when sophomore pinch-runner Hailey Lowell (Pelham, N.H.) raced home from third on a wild pitch to give them the eight-run difference. 

First year starting pitcher Alyssa Ward (Webster, Mass.) (0-4) was saddled with the defeat for Regis, yielding eight runs (seven earned) on 14 hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts. 

Simmons returns to action tomorrow with a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader in New Haven, Conn. at GNAC foe Albertus Magnus College, while the Pride host University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) at 1:00 p.m.