Syracuse, N.Y. – Redshirt freshman Laura Bennett (Corning, N.Y./Corning-Painted Post) tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the fourth-seeded Le Moyne College softball team to a 2-0 victory over fifth-seeded Pace University in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships on Tuesday afternoon at the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex.

With the victory, the Dolphins advance to the NE10 Southwest Division semifinals on Thursday at top-seeded Adelphi University at 3:00 p.m.
 
Le Moyne (12-13) scored the only run it would need just three batters into the first inning. Sophomore center fielder Dominique Russo (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) led off with a single to the third baseman and then stole second. After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, Russo scored on a groundout to the shortstop by senior shortstop Kaily LaForce (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton).

The Dolphins tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a pair of hits. Junior right fielder Victoria Catalano (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) doubled to left center with two outs and came around to score on a double down the left field line by junior catcher Cassidy Barrett (Apalachin, N.Y./Vestal).

After allowing a lead off single in the second inning, Bennett retired the next 12 batters and 18 of the last 19 batters she faced. She improved to 8-3 on the season, including three victories over the Setters, after striking out seven in her fourth shutout of the season. Emma Bernet suffered the loss for the Setters after yielding two runs over six innings.