BOSTON, MA – Saint Joseph's (25-5, 18-0) maintained its winning ways with a two-game sweep over GNAC rival Simmons College (18-6, 13-4 GNAC) on Monday afternoon. Liddy van der Linden '10 (Worcester, MA) and Jillian Kimball '10 (Albany Township, ME) both recorded four hits for the Monks in the twinbill.

With the sweep, St. Joe's increased its winning streak to 21 games, two shy of the longest streak in Saint Joseph's Athletics history. The lengthiest win streak is held by the 1998-99 Men's Basketball team, which opened the season with 23 straight wins.

Christy Wezowicz '10 (Granville, MA) tossed a gem in the opener, fanning four with six hits allowed in seven shutout innings to improve to 8-2 in the circle. In four innings, game two starter Kayla Vannah '13 (Waldoboro, ME) scattered three hits with three earned runs to collect the winning decision and is now 3-0 in her freshman season. Madylan Kluna '12 (Standish, ME) allowed a hit and fanned one batter in an inning of relief duty in the nightcap.

GAME ONE

After two scoreless frames in the first game, van der Linden and Kimball ignited the SJC offense with a run scoring single and a two-run double, respectively, in the third inning to lift the Monks to a 3-0 cushion.

Although the three-run lead would prove to be two more than Wezowicz would require, St. Joe's added two more in the fifth when van der Linden plated Danyelle Shufelt '13 (Sutton, VT) with a single and later scored on a Sharks' miscue.

For the Monks, van der Linden, Anna Willis '10 (Gorham, ME) and Alyssa Dunn '11 (Standish, ME) all registered a pair of hits and Shufelt scored two runs. Kimball and van der Linden drove home two runs apiece in the win, which extended the team's winning streak to 20 games.

GAME TWO

While the first game was a nail biter, at least for the first few innings, the nightcap was anything but as the Royal Blue put up five runs of six hits in the team's second turn at bat and went on to win a mercy-rule-shortened contest. Overall, St. Joe's recorded 17 hits en route to scoring 12 runs.

The first five SJC batters reached in the top of the second, with Kimball, Cynthia Wescott '12 (Westbrook, ME) and Sam Gray '12 (Yarmouth, ME) getting on with singles and Dunn and Dana Clark '12 (South Thomaston, ME) reaching with walks. After Willis made the first out of the frame with a fielder's choice, Shufelt followed with her first career home run, a three-run shot, to make it a 5-0 game.

The conference counterparts swapped runs in the third, as Gray plated Wescott with a double for the Monks and Ashley Wheeler '12 (Nashua, NH) tripled and scored on an SJC error to make it a 6-1 contest.

Emily Leverone '12 (Hampton, NH) tripled to lead off the fourth for St. Joe's and scored when the next hitter, van der Linden, singled to give the visitors a 7-1 cushion. Simmons responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, as Annie Thompson '11 (Pacific Palisades, CA) tripled home Courteney Collier '11 (Bolton, MA) and scored on an infield play to cut the SJC lead to 7-3.

Saint Joseph's went on to make it a mercy-rule contest with five runs off six hits in the top of the fifth. Leverone notched the big hit with a bases-loaded double and Wescott and Clark both registered RBI's during the inning.

For St. Joe's, Leverone, Kimball and Wescott all had three hits and van der Linden notched two singles. Shufelt and Leverone both registered three RBI in the triumph.

Saint Joseph's will travel to Newton, MA on Wednesday to take on conference rival Lasell College (14-6-1, 10-6 GNAC) in a twinbill slated to begin at 3:00 PM.