KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The UMass Dartmouth softball team swept in their season opening double-header down in the Sunshine State at the 2025 THE Spring Games on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs begin the year with a 2-0 overall record after securing an 11-3 victory over New England College in game one before finishing the day with a 8-0 shutout win against North Central College.
The Corsairs came out swinging to open the first game, scoring five runs in the opening inning to take a quick 5-0 lead. After junior
Emma Talpey stole home to give UMass Dartmouth a 2-0 edge, sophomore
Olivia Silva recorded the first RBI of the season to tag home senior
Larissa Piessens and make it a 3-0 game. Junior
Sydney Menz and sophomore
Lily Routhier each tallied an RBI to end the inning with a five-run advantage.
The Pilgrims put one run on the board in the bottom of the first, but the Corsairs continued to tack on two more scores in the second inning. Junior
RaeLynn Perregaux scored Talpey home off a single to right field before Silva added another run to pull ahead 7-2. In the top of the third, UMass Dartmouth posted three runs off four hits to claim a 10-2 lead highlighted by a pair of RBI singles from Talpey and Perregaux. Sophomore
Olivia Ali recorded her first RBI of the season after grounding out to the short stop to tag Menz home and seal their season opening win by a final score of 11-3.
Routhier secured her first collegiate win on the mound after pitching all five innings for the Corsairs. She allowed two earned runs on four hits after throwing 51 total pitches while also giving up just two walks in the entire game.
Perregaux led the team with three hits on four at-bats with a double, a pair of RBIs, two stolen bases. Talpey ended the game by going 2-for-3 at the plate featuring a team-high three runs as well as one RBI and two stolen bases. Menz was the only player to record a triple after going 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs and one RBI. Silva finished the game with two RBIs off one hit on three at-bats to go along with one run.
In game two, UMass Dartmouth once again got off to a strong start posting two early runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead over the Rams. Talpey put the Corsairs on the board first after reaching home plate on a wild pitch. Shortly after, Silva singled to center right field to tag Piessens home and make it a 2-0 game. In the bottom of the third, Silva gave UMass Dartmouth a 3-0 edge with her RBI double to once again score Piessens.
The Corsairs bats came alive in the fourth inning, tacking on four more runs off four hits to pull away with a 7-0 advantage. After Piessens recorded an RBI single, Perregaux singled to center field to bring home Talpey and senior
Kinu Takasugi. UMass Dartmouth cemented their opening day sweep as junior
Chaylin Cruz Salgado reached home on a muffed throw to defeat North Central by a final score of 8-0.
First year pitcher
Edy Crawford earned her first career win in the circle in her collegiate debut for UMass Dartmouth after throwing all five innings. She recorded eight strikeouts and allowed just two hits in the game after throwing 79 total pitches.
Silva went 2-for-2 at the plate for the Corsairs recording the lone double of the game along with two RBIs. Perreguax also ended the game with two RBIs after going 1-for-3 at the plate. Piessens registered two hits with three at-bats and tallied a team-high three runs and one stolen base. Talpey went 2-for-3 at the plate recording two runs while Takasugi and Cruz Salgado each produced one hit apiece for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth returns to double-header action for the second day of THE Spring Games on Sunday, Mar. 9. The Corsairs face Western New England University for game one at 1:45 p.m. before concluding the day against Saint Mary's College starting at 6:30 p.m.
