NAPLES, FL – The Nazareth Softball team pounded out another 24 hits Tuesday as the Golden Flyers swept a pair of games with a 7-5 win over SUNY Delhi and a 7-2 win over Crown (MN) to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Nazareth (4-2) had double-digit hits in each game with 11 in the opener and another 13 in the second game. Senior Sarah Simmons had one of the hottest bats with a 5-for-6 effort including three runs, two runs batted in and two stolen bases. Freshman Maddy Spakoski also continued her hot hitting with a 3-for-6 day with two doubles, a home run, six RBI and two runs scored while senior Emily Daciw rested the first game but was 3-for-4 with a run and a run batted in in game two.
Another hot bat for the Golden Flyers came in the hands of sophomore Maggie Burdick who finished 4-for-8 with two runs and two RBI.
Nazareth also had a pair of solid pitching performances as senior Hailie Bennett threw a complete-game in the opener with five strikeouts while Daciw improved to 3-0 with a complete-game and four strikeouts against Crown.
Against Delhi (1-3), Nazareth took a 4-0 lead in the second on the strength of the three-run inside-the-park home run by Spakoski.
Each team scored a run in the third and sixth innings and Nazareth added another run in the top of the seventh. The Broncos launched a comeback effort with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Delhi had a runner on third with two outs before Bennett recorded her fifth strikeout to end the game.
Against Crown, Nazareth jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with graduate student Justine Brooks and junior Marissa Berghorn each walking to start the inning before Daciw doubled to the fence in left centerfield to score both runners for the early lead.
After a 1-2-3 inning for Daciw in the third, Nazareth added four more runs with the big hits coming on a run scoring double by Spakoski and a run-scoring single for freshman Ashley Bell later in the rally. Spakoski capped the rally as she scored on a wild pitch.
Crown (1-13) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth and Nazareth capped the scoring with a single run in the sixth when Spakoski hit a sacrifice fly to score Simmons.
Nazareth has a day off Wednesday but will return to action in Florida Thursday against NYU at 1 p.m. and Mitchell College at 3 p.m.
