AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Simmons softball (2-2) grabbed a dominating win, 10-2, over St. Vincent College on Monday morning, before dropping their second game to Allegheny College, 9-8, in the afternoon.
GAME 1: SIMMONS 10, ST. VINCENT 2
The Sharks got their momentum going early in the first inning after the Bearcats went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. First-year Teagan Buckley ripped a double to left center to lead off the home half of the frame. Three batters later, senior backstop Shannon McMahon brought Buckley home with a two-out double into the right centerfield gap to put Simmons up, 1-0.
Castigliego helped her own cause notching a single, to plate McMahon. The runs didn't stop as senior Emma Thacher singled to put runners at the corners. With first-year Leah Connor at the dish, Castigliego scored on a double steal to give Simmons the three-run lead.
St. Vincent began to get on the bases in the second inning. With a walk and a single, there was an opportunity for the bases to be loaded. However, it was Castigliego fanned Katie Muro for her 300th career strikeout. She ended the top of the second catching a pop up off the bat of Olivia Goodwin.
Simmons had quiet offensive innings in the second and third, but managed to pushed across a run in each to take a 5-1. The Bearcats inched closer to the Shark lead grabbing another run in the top of the fifth to pull within three runs, 5-2. However, the Sharks broke the game wide open with a five-run bottom of the fifth.
The Sharks opened the home half of the fifth with back-to-back base hits by Rubin and McMahon. With runners in scoring position and no outs, Simmons kept the pressure on St. Vincent. Castigliego reached on a throwing error by the left side of the Bearcat infield and brough home Rubin and sent McMahon to third in the process. Thacher ripped a single back where it came from to plate both McMahon and pinch-runner A.J. Swett to increase the lead to 8-2.
Simmons was not done yet. First-year Leah Connor reach on a walk as Thacher shifted up to second base before sophomore Raya Anderson loaded the bases with another walk. Buckley ended the game with a two-run single into centerfield to score Connor and Anderson.
GAME 2: ALLEGHENY 9, SIMMONS, 8
Senior Shannon McMahon got the scoring started with a two-out RBI double in the top of the first to plate Rubin to put the Sharks up 1-0. The Sharks went back to work offensively as first-year pitcher Emily Deleault set down the Gators in order in the bottom of the first.
In the second inning, Simmons took advantage of walks and Gator errors allowing Thacher to score the Sharks' second run following a bases loaded walk to take a two-run lead.
Allegheny chipped its way back into the game, cutting the deficit in half gaining a run back in the bottom of the second before tying the game pushing across a run in the fourth. However, it was short lived as Simmons put up a crooked number three in the top fifth to take a 5-2 lead.
Sophomore Raya Anderson opened in the inning with a bunt single then scampered to second two batters later on fielder's choice. McMahon came through in the clutch once again ripping a double into left field to plate a pair.
After first-year A.J. Swett came in to pinch run for McMahon, Thacher hit a single through the left that brought Swett home. They continued to pound the ball offensively in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, McMahon roped a two-run single to score Buckley and Anderson to take a 7-2 lead.
But momentum began to shift in favor of the Gators in the bottom of the sixth, scoring a pair of runs to cut into the Shark lead, 7-4. Simmons extended its lead once to four grabbing a run back in the top of seventh. But the four-run lead did not last for long as the Gators batted around in the bottom of the seventh to tie up the ballgame, before going on to win in extras.
SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS:
- Senior Maddie Castigliego registered her 300th career strikeout in the second inning against St. Vincent; she also had five strikeouts for the game.
- Senior Shannon McMahon tied her single-game high RBI record (5) and three hits against Allegheny.
- First-year Teagan Buckley had a single-game high for RBI (3) against St. Vincent.
- First-year Leah Connor also had three hits against Allegheny.
UP NEXT:
Simmons plays again tomorrow, Tuesday, March 7, to play Roanoke College (11:30 a.m.) and Monmouth College (2 p.m.).