Salisbury, Md. -- University of Lynchburg softball head coach Dawn Simmons won her 700th game at the helm of the Hornet softball program on Saturday with a 4-1 win over NYU. The Hornets also beat King's (Pa.) for Simmons' 701st victory.
Simmons has coached the Hornets for 26 years and has the 13th-most wins among active Division III coaches. She's the winningest coach in the history of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and her 701 wins are the 37th-most in the history of Division III softball.
Playing at a neutral site in Maryland, the Hornets sent Logan Curtis to the circle for Game 1 against the Violets. She pitched five innings only allowing three hits, struck out three, and didn't allow a run. She earned her first win of the season as she left the game with the Hornets up 4-0.
Alyssa Talayumtpewa gave the Hornets a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI double. Jessica Strickland also drove in a run with a double in the fifth.
Lynchburg's other two runs were courtesy of Madison Barnes via an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Emily Charlton relieved Curtis in the sixth and allowed one run in the seventh but shut down the Violets to secure Simmons' milestone victory.
In Game 2, Kailey Dorcsis got the ball in the circle and spun yet another gem for the Hornets. She earned her sixth victory of the season and third of the week after going all seven innings, fanning seven Monarchs, and only allowing one unearned run on three hits without a walk.
The Hornets got to the Monarchs in the fourth for a pair of runs, good for their only scoring of the game. Once more, it was Barnes driving in Strickland. Bri Hodges notched the eventual game-winning hit, scoring Barnes with a single.
The Monarchs scratched one across against Dorcsis in the sixth and got the go-ahead run on first base in the seventh, but Dorcsis shut them down with her seventh K of the day to end the rally and secure Lynchburg's 11th win of the year.
Simmons nearly had win No. 700 on Thursday as the Hornets were rallying for a comeback victory and a sweep of the No. 2-ranked Salisbury Sea Gulls. After beating Salisbury earlier in the day, the Hornets trailed 6-5 with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh of Game 2. The game was halted due to darkness, and while the teams made efforts to plan to finish the game Saturday morning, it was officially called a completed game granting the Sea Gulls a 6-5 win.
The Hornets (11-3) open conference play with Sweet Briar at home for a double-header on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
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