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Box Score 2 NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University softball team opened up its brutal six-game stretch where it will face the three other top teams in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) standings in a span of five days, with a split against Simmons College on Wednesday at the NU Softball Field.
Junior designated hitter Briana Day (Yelm, Wash.) poked a two-run single in the first and then smacked a two-run home run for her third round tripper of the year in the bottom of the third for a total of four RBIs in Game 2 to help lead the Cadets to a 6-4 victory after they dropped the opener 4-0 to Simmons.
Senior second baseman Noel Byers (Iron Mountain, Mich.) also notched two RBIs and went 3-for-5 on the day to help pace Norwich (22-7, 17-3 GNAC) to its 22nd win in its last 25 games.
Junior pitcher Kaylie Miller (Long Lake, N.Y.) threw six strong innings for NU in Game 2, giving up one earned run on seven hits to pick up her team-leading 11th win of the season and improve to 11-1 overall on the year. Sophomore pitcher Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) came on for the seventh inning to close the game out for her second save of the year.
Game 1 lived up the hype as Simmons' ace and the GNAC's top statistical pitcher Lauren Backhaus hooked up with Norwich's Baita for a pitcher's duel that went scoreless for six innings.
However, Simmons (22-8, 15-5 GNAC) finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning with four runs on Baita that proved to be more than enough run support for Backhaus.
Baita, who had struggled with her control early in the game before settling in through the middle innings, finally had her wildness catch up to her as she plunked the leadoff hitter Cailin Pagel and then walked Hannah Cunningham. Mikaela Caracciolo bunt singled to load up the bases and Emily Cunningham provided the big hit for the Sharks to bust the game open by lacing a ground rule double down the right field line to score Christina Mulcahy, who pinch ran for Pagel, as well as her sister Hannah.
Simmons added two more runs with Carracciolo scoring on a throwing error and then Heather White plating Emily Cunningham for the Sharks' fourth run of the inning.
Norwich wasn't able to muster anything in the bottom half of the inning as Backhaus picked up her GNAC-leading 13th win of the season, while striking out six and shutting out the Cadets for the first time since its third game of the season. Baita took the loss to fall to 9-6 on the year after giving up two earned runs on six hits and six walks while striking out eight.
Norwich didn't take long to get its bats going in the second game as junior shortstop Abby Belcher (Winthrop, Mass.) got on with sharp single to left field after the Cadets' offensive catalyst was held hitless in the opener. She moved over to second on sacrifice bunt by Payton Warner (Harwich, Mass.). After Kelly Travers (Whitman, Mass.) walked to put two runners aboard, Byers finally got Norwich on the board for the day with a double that found the left-centerfield gap and scored Belcher.
Following an Angie Hershberger pop out, Day went back up the middle to score Travers and Byers and push the Norwich lead to 3-0.
In the top of the third, Backhaus struck again for Simmons, this time at the plate as the sophomore standout launched a towering home run over the left field fence for her third homer of the season to tie the game back up at 3.
However, Norwich answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with Day launching a two-out two-run moon shot of her own to score Byers as well after she reached an error by the Simmons' shortstop.
The Cadets never relinquished the lead again from there as each team would go on to add one more run with Byers recording an RBI single to plate Warner in the bottom of the fifth and then Simmons getting it back down to two runs again on a RBI single by Pagel in the top of the sixth.
Belcher made a game-saving play to allow the Cadets to escape further damage with the play of the day on the next hitter by full-extension lay out to knock down a sharp hit ball by Hannah Cunningham. Belcher then flipped the ball over to Byers standing at second base for a force out to keep the game at 6-4.
Norwich's 17 league wins top the GNAC as the Cadets have just four games remaining with a pair each against St. Joseph (Maine) on Saturday and then Emerson on Sunday for Senior Day.
NU can at worst finish fifth and two more wins will assure the Cadets of hosting a GNAC Quarterfinal game on Tuesday.
Emerson (14-2) currently leads the GNAC in winning percentage, but the Lions have four doubleheaders in four days to close out the regular season with a showdown looming with Norwich on Sunday.
