LEESBURG, Fla. -Â Playing for the first time in 2022, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth softball team swept the day with wins over Penn State Altoona and Gordon.Â
VS. PENN STATE ALTOONA
The Corsairs exploded for an eight-run sixth inning on their way to a 12-6 victory over the Lions. Sophomore
Hailey Lyons was 2-for-4 with three RBI, a double, run scored, and a walk. 5th-year senior
Leah Major picked up three hits, an RBI and scored twice, while 5th-year senior
Jill Richards and junior
Victoria Rossetti each had a pair of hits.
After Penn State Altoona took a 2-0 lead in the first, the Corsairs made it a one-run game when Rossetti tripled home freshman
Larissa Piessens.
The Lions made it a 3-1 game in the in the third. It took until the fifth inning for UMass Dartmouth to plate its second run of the day. Major drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 3-2.
UMass Dartmouth would take the lead for good with an eight-run sixth. Piessens knocked a runner home with an RBI double to tie the game at three and Rossetti gave the team the lead with a sacrifice fly. The runs kept coming. Lyons smacked an RBI single, a run crossed on an error, Richards brought two more across with a base hit, and the final run of the inning scored on another error. When the dust settled the Corsiars were on top, 10-3.
Penn State Altoona would bring three more across in the bottom of the sixth, but Lyons hit a two-RBI double in the seventh to finish things off.
VS. GORDON
Sophomore
Kaitlyn Shirshac pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts and only allowed five hits with one walk as the Corsairs downed Gordon, 6-0.
Major reached on a single in the bottom of the first and advanced to third on a two-out base knock by Richards. Major would eventually score on an error to make it a 1-0 lead. Lyons doubled in the third and scored on another error. The fourth run of the game came in the fifth and was also on an error when Richards crossed the plate after a single earlier in the inning.
Still in the fifth, Rossetti singled home senior
Lindsay Chubbuck, who reached on a base hit earlier in the inning, to make it a 5-0 lead.
The final run of the day game in the sixth inning when Lyons grounded into a fielders choice to score freshman Kinu Tagasugi, who walked and stole second to get herself into scoring position.
UP NEXT
UMass Dartmouth plays Westfield State on Sunday at 10:15 a.m. and Otterbein at 3:15 p.m.