BOSTON – The Norwich University softball team stretched its winning streak to 11 straight games with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader sweep of Emmanuel (Mass.) on Monday night at Roberto Clemente Field.

The Cadets (11-4, 6-0 GNAC) pounded out 22 hits between the twin games en route to a 10-6 win in Game 1 and a 13-5 mercy-rule win after five innings in Game 2.

Junior Abby Belcher (Winthrop, Mass.) led the offensive barrage going 6-for-8 with a home run, three RBIs and five runs scored. Freshman Payton Warner (Harwich, Mass.) was 4-for-7 with four RBIs and four runs scored, while sophomore Kelly Travers (Whitman, Mass.) recorded a team-high five RBIs on three hits in the twin bill.

Freshman Angie Hershberger (Felton, Calif.) and senior Noel Byers (Iron Mountain, Mich.) each had three hits and three RBIs as well to round out the Norwich offensive leaders on the night.

In Game 1, Norwich held a 2-0 lead through four innings after the Cadets pushed two runs across the plate in the second inning courtesy of a two-run single by Byers that plated Warner and Belcher.

In the top of the fifth though, Emmanuel capitalized on a pair of Norwich defensive miscues to plate four unearned runs and take a 4-2 lead.

The Cadets responded though in a big way in the bottom half of the inning as Belcher led off the inning with a solo home run to swing the momentum back in NU's favor. Norwich tacked on five more runs in the inning with Travers, Byers, Melissa Rome (Enfield, Conn.) and Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) also recording RBIs to take an 8-4 lead after five innings.

Emmanuel cut into the deficit again in the top of the sixth with a two-RBI double to left center by Jennifer Garrity that scored Val Kiers and Jenna Marcello. However, Norwich responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth with Warner knocking a RBI double to plate Belcher and Travers scoring Warner on a sacrifice fly.

Baita picked up the win on the mound for NU after going six innings giving up 10 hits and zero earned runs while striking out six and walking three.

In Game 2, Norwich used a 10-run second inning to completely blow the game wide open and take an 11-0 lead after two innings. Emmanuel battled back with a run in the third and four in the fifth, but NU countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth off a two-run single by Hershberger that scored Maggie Walsh (North Plainfield, N.J.) and Elizabeth Boynton (Durham, Maine).

Junior Kaylie Miller (Long Lake, N.Y.) picked up the victory going four innings and giving up one earned run on five hits while striking out six and walking one.

Norwich will look to stay unbeaten in GNAC play and continue its winning streak on Wednesday when it travels to Anna Maria for conference doubleheader with first pitch for Game 1 set for 3:30 p.m.

-CADETS-