SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Senior shortstop Jennifer Winters (Vestal, N. Y./Vestal) went 3-for-7 with six runs batted in to lead Le Moyne to a doubleheader sweep of Pace University 9-3, 13-6 in Northeast-10 Conference softball at the Niland Athletic Complex. The Dolphins (12-8, 4-0) have won eight consecutive games, while Pace drops to 8-10 overall and 3-3 in Northeast-10 Conference action.
In the opener, Le Moyne jumped out to 5-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore Emma Murphy (East Syracuse, N.Y./ES-M) smacked a one-out solo home run to right field to start the Dolphins' scoring. Winters plated three runs on a single to center to deliver the 5-0 lead.
After Pace plated a run in the top of the third inning, the first earned run Sarah Reed (DeWitt, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) has allowed in 41 innings, the Dolphins responded with three in the bottom of the third. Senior Ashley Anderson (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool), and juniors Melissa Quimby (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Baldwinsville) and Lindsay Spaziani (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) each had RBI doubles to score the three Le Moyne runs.
Pace answered back with two runs in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run home by Michelle Brigham. Murphy completed the Dolphins' scoring with an RBI double that drove in Kristen DesLauriers (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Reed struck out five, allowing three runs on four hits over four innings, to even her record at 5-5 on the season. Freshman Jennifer Farrelly (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) tossed the final three innings of the game in relief for Le Moyne.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning of the nightcap, sophomore Kortney Meadows (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) smacked her first career home run to tie the game at 4.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, trailing 6-4, the Dolphins exploded for nine runs to break open the game. Quimby singled to right field to plate Murphy and Caitlin O'Neill (Pittsford, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) to give Le Moyne their first lead of the game at 8-6. Meadows followed with a single down the left field line to score Quimby. After a hit by pitch and a base on balls, Winters connected for a grand slam over the left-centerfield wall to complete the scoring for the game at 13-6.
Martha Senko (Pine City, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) pitched all seven innings for Le Moyne to pick up her fourth win of the season.
The Dolphins return to the diamond on Sunday against Southern Connecticut State University. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.