CASTLETON, Vt. - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth softball team picked up a sweep at Castleton Sunday, 9-1 and 3-0, for wins number 26 and 27, matching the 2016 team as the winningest team in program history.
Sophomore
Hailey Lyons belted two home runs on the day for the Corsairs (27-8-1, 11-3 LEC), while 5th-year senior
Jill Richards went deep in game two. Sophomore
Kaitlyn Shirshac threw her second complete-game shutout of the week, while Richards tossed a complete game with only one earned run.
GAME ONE
Lyons and Richards each finished 3-for-4 at the plate, with Lyons adding four RBI. 5th-year senior
Leah Major and sophomore
Dyonna Rodas both had two hits and two runs scored. Rodas drove in a pair of runs.
Richards threw a complete game in the circle and limited Castleton to one run on six hits with five strikeouts.
UMass Dartmouth got on the board in the top of the first when Richards drove in Rodas, who led the inning off with a single, with a two-out base knock.
Richards kept the Corsairs up, 1-0, until the fourth when Castleton evened the score on a solo home run to start the inning.
Both teams went 1-2-3 in the fifth before UMass Dartmouth broke it open with three runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh.
Major and senior Luindsay Chubbuck both got on base to start the sixth, and Lyons went deep to left to make it a 4-1 game.
In the seventh, Rodas laced a two-RBI double to score juniors Linsey MIracle and
Victoria Rossetti, Lyons then singled home Major, and senior
Averi Soares brought home Richards with a base hit to extend the lead to 9-1. Richards picked up one more strikeout in the bottom of the seventh for her 14th win of the season.
GAME TWO
Shirchac was dominant once again in her second complete-game shutout of the week. This time she struck out seven and only allowed three hits, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
Lyons and Richards each homered. It was the fourth of the year for Lyons, while Richards ties Chubbuck for the team lead with five long balls.
Just like game one, UMass Dartmouth put up a run in the first inning. Major and Chubbuck hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. A double steal attempt where Chubbuck was tagged out in a rundown allowed Major to score and give the Corsairs a 1-0 advantage.
Lyons started the second inning with a home run over the left field fence to make it a 2-0 lead. It took until the sixth for Richards to go deep to center to push the advantage to 3-0.
Shirchac had a perfect game going through three full innings, and her no-hitter was broken up with a two-out double in the sixth. Castleton had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but Shirshac forced a groundout to third to complete the sweep.
UP NEXT
UMass Dartmouth will make the short trip to Roger Williams on Tuesday for its final non-conference game of the season, first pitch is at 4 p.m.
