RINDGE, N.H. (April 23, 2019) – Franklin Pierce University softball freshman designated player Cat Simmons (Pine Plains, N.Y.) ripped a walk-off home run the bottom of the eighth inning to complete the season series sweep of Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Michael's College 3-2 Tuesday afternoon at the Bisaccia Softball Complex. The win was the ninth of the campaign for the Ravens and their fifth in league play while the Purple Knights lost their 29th game and 19th conference contest.

Simmons finished the battle 2-for-4 with two runs scored. The round-tripper was her seventh of the season which ranks her second in the Northeast-10 Conference and tied her for the second most during a single season in program history with Courtney Caputo (2014). The newcomer came around to score the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth following a single to center and sophomore right fielder Gina Hinckley (Lancaster, Mass.) plated her teammate with a gap shot opposite field standup double.

Catcher Allie Martinez (Upland, Calif.) produced a two-hit effort of her own going 2-for-3 with a walk. Fellow freshman first baseman Lexi Garcia (Sylmar, Calif.) chipped in a two-bagger.

Senior Sabrina LoMonaco (Franklin, Mass.) drew the start on her Senior Day. She tossed three innings scattering one hit and one run allowing two unearned runs to score. She was relieved by southpaw Amelia Mamone (Averill Park, N.Y.) who fired five innings striking out four batters.

For the guests, third baseman Aleksandra Apkarian, Torie Rathwell and Courtney Norton recorded doubles in the game. Rathwell was the starting pitcher for SMC and was saddled with the setback hurling a complete game.

FPU scored first in the home half of the first inning off a two-out error which brought home second baseman Kaitlyn Rooney (Shirley, Mass.) who reached base via an error. Saint Michael's took a 2-1 advantage a couple of frames later in the top of the third after capitalizing off a Raven miscue with two outs.

Mamone worked out of trouble when she first took the circle in the top of the fourth. She gave up a leadoff double to Courtney Norton down the right-field line and immediately punched out the next three batters swinging stranding the runner in scoring position.

With only six outs to go, Simmons spring boarded the comeback bid in the sixth roping a single to center. Hinckley followed by staying with the pitch and barreling an opposite-field double deep into the right-center field gap to tie the game. Hinckley advanced to third off a grounder to short, but could not come home as the inning came to an end.

Mamone again stranded a runner on second in the top of the eighth and Simmons ended the contest with the walk-off tater in the bottom of the frame on a 2-2 count.

The Ravens wrap up their home schedule tomorrow with a doubleheader against Merrimack College at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce softball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://fpuravens.com). You can also follow the softball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPUSoftball_) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpu_ravens_softball).