The Big Red softball team picked up a pair of wins on Monday in Clermont, Fla.  Denison shut out The College of New Jersey, 2-0, in the opener and followed that up with a 4-2 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Against the Lions, Denison received another solid outing from starting pitcher Rebecca Dyer.  The junior tossed seven scoreless innings, scattered three hits and struck out seven en route to her second win of the season.  After TCNJ's first hitter of the game reached on an error, Dyer successfully retired nine-consecutive batters before allowing a single to open the bottom of the fourth.

All of the game's scoring came in the top of the second inning.  Sophomore Emily Lipsitz reached on an error to open the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gretchen Staubach.  The Big Red had two runners in scoring position after a defensive miscue put Kelsey Hager on second and moved Lipsitz to third.  With one out, sophomore Julie Rooney roped a double to left center, giving DU a 2-0 lead.

A pair of walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Lions in the sixth with only one out.  However, Dyer worked out of the jam by inducing a pop out to Meghan Edwards and striking out pinch hitter Christine Deiderio.  In the seventh inning, TCNJ brought the game-winning run to the plate with one out for the second-straight time.  Once again, the junior hurler got out of danger with a fly out to Hager and a game-ending strikeout.

In the nightcap against RPI, seniors Jess Robertson and Rosie Glaser powered the Big Red to victory.  After three and a half scoreless frames, junior Rachel Laughlin led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to right center.  After a wild pitch moved Laughlin to third, Robertson singled in the junior to put Denison on top 1-0.  Later in the inning, Glaser hit a three-run inside the park home run to give the Big Red a 4-0 advantage.  The senior's first-collegiate homer scored Lipsitz and Kelly Cunningham.

The Engineers pushed a run across in both the fifth and sixth innings, but Hager slammed the door in the seventh with a pair of fly outs and a ground out to Lipsitz.  Hager picked up her first win of the year.  She allowed one earned run on six hits in seven innings of work.  Robertson finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, while Glaser had a home run and three RBIs.

Denison heads into its day off with a 3-1 record.  The Big Red returns to the diamond on Wednesday when they take on St. Scholastica (9 a.m.) and Bowdoin (11 a.m.).