Newton, Mass. (4/1/13) - The Lasell College softball team dropped a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game to Simmons University, 7-0 that was halted after six innings of play due to thunder. The second game of the doubleheader was rescheduled for April 10th at 4:00 p.m. The loss drops Lasell to 4-11 overall and 1-4 in GNAC play while Simmons improves to 11-4 on the season and 4-1 in conference action.
Santina Antoshak (Closter, N.J.), Courtney Moen (Brookfield, Mass.) and Amanda Szidat (Westford, Mass.) each singled in the game for Lasell. Eileen Bergin (Arlington, Mass.) took the loss for Lasell, pitching all six innings, allowing seven run, four earned on five hits and five walks while striking out three.
In the bottom half of the first, Simmons senior Ari King (Westford, Mass.) doubled to right center and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Backhaus picked up an RBI as she hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score King from third and give the Sharks a 1-0 lead.
Simmons added to their 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as freshman Heather White (Westfield, Mass.) singled down the left field line to start the inning. Luongo hit a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt as White advanced to third and Cailin Pagel (Dorchester, Mass.) reached first on a walk. White doubled the Sharks lead to two when Bergin threw a wild pitch past catcher Nicole LeBlanc. King reached first on an error by the second baseman to score Pagel and Jen Field (Windham, Maine) to give the Sharks a 4-0 lead.
The Sharks posted a three-run bottom of the sixth as Christina Mulcahy (Cambridge, Mass.) reached on an error and White followed with a walk. Both runners advanced on a pass ball before Pagel singled to score Mulcahy from third. Field stepped up to the plate and lined out deep to the second baseman, enough for White to score on the play. Hannah Cunningham (Cotuit, Mass.) reached first on another Lasell error as Pagel ran home to give the Sharks a 7-0 lead.
The rain and thunder halted play after the sixth inning, and Simmons picked up the victory, 7-0. Lauren Backhaus earned the win for Simmons, yielding three hits and striking out nine while recording the shutout.