Sharks Strike Twice in GNAC Doubleheader

NEWTON, MA-  Simmons College picked up two Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) wins over Lasell College softball on Thursday, striking first with an 8-0, five-inning contest and then stealing off with a 4-3, eight frame game in the nightcap.  The Sharks are at present ranked 2nd in the conference with a 21-11 overall and a 17-3 conference slate, while Lasell's record slips to 9-25 this season, and 9-11 in GNAC play.

Simmons dominated play in the first game, stringing together 12 hits, including two home runs, to bring about the 8-0 final score.  Lasell managed just two hits in the game, one each from Michelle Torres (Waltham, MA) and Marissa McHugh (Plymouth, MA), as well as one walk by Candace Hankard (Wakefield, MA). Courtney Collier (Bolton, MA) earned the win for the Sharks, striking out eight batters in the shutout.

In game two, Lasell's bats awoken to the tune of nine hits including a double from Torres and a triple from Hankard.  Simmons took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, a lead which Lasell cut in half in the top of the second when Torres came around the bags on a ground-out by Jacqueline Saluti (Braintree, MA). 

The Lasers took their first lead of the game in the fifth inning with two additional runs scored by Kelly Silvia (Oak Bluffs, MA) and Kerrie Starkey (Keene, NH) on a two-RBI single by Talia DeChiara (Kingston, MA).  The advantage was short-lived, however, as Simmons came back to tie the game at three-all in the bottom half of the frame, which eventually forced the teams into extra innings.

A walk-off RBI single by Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, MA) in the bottom of the eighth inning concluded the match in favor of the Sharks.

DeChiara and Hankard went 2-for-4 in the game and Starkey went 2-for-3 with one run.  Alison Saluti (Braintree, MA) pitched seven and a third innings in the loss.

Lasell travels to St. Joseph's Maine on Friday for a doubleheader with the Monks as they continue GNAC play.