Ulak's Slam Powers Softball to Opening Day Sweep
Links: Box Score (G2)
CLERMONT, Fla. – After sophomore Samantha Waskowitz (Killingworth, Conn.) knocked in a pair of runs to secure the team's first victory of the day, senior Courtney Ulak (Rehoboth, Mass.) blasted her first career grand slam to power the Merrimack College softball team to a season-opening doubleheader sweep
The Basics
Score (G1): Merrimack 2, Wheeling Jesuit 1
Score (G2): Merrimack 8, Notre Dame College 3
Records: Merrimack (2-0) | Wheeling Jesuit (2-5) | Notre Dame College (1-6)
Location: National Training Center | Clermont, Fla.
How It Happened (WJ)
Merrimack started the year off on the right foot, as Waskowitz used a two-RBI base hit to lead the Warriors to a 2-1 victory against Wheeling Jesuit.
On the mound, sophomore Haley Currie (Burlington, Mass.) yielded just a run and secured the win with an impressive effort.
How It Happened (NDC)
After starting the year off with a victory, Merrimack hopped out to an early two-run lead and then after Notre Dame clawed to within one, Ulak put the game out of reach with her first career home run – appropriately enough, a grand slam – as the Warriors completed their Day 1 sweep with an 8-3 win over Notre Dame College.
Seven different players recorded a hit for the Navy and Gold, with freshman Brooke Gubala (Raynham, Mass.) posting a two-hit performance, as well.
On the mound, junior Alexis Perry (Westford, Vt.) tossed four effective innings to secure the win; she fanned one and yielded just two hits while working around a trio of walks. After her, freshman Courtney Zambello (Sharon, Mass.) made her collegiate debut a solid one, fanning three while walking none and working around six hits and an earned run over three innings in a three effective innings of relief.
Waskowitz put the Warriors ahead by two in the top of the first after driving in classmate Mariah Tenney (Winchendon, Mass.) and then came home on an error to make it 2-0.
Three innings later, Gubala notched her first career RBI on a base hit to right field that scored Ulak. Notre Dame drew to within one (3-2) after putting up a pair in the home half of the fourth, but in the top of the fifth, Merrimack responded with a five-spot. Senior Stephanie Lapierre (Berlin, Conn.) came in to score on an error, and then four batters later Ulak launched a mammoth shot to straightaway center to make it an 8-2 affair.
Notre Dame would get only one back in the bottom of the seventh, as Zambello locked down the win with a strikeout and a groundout to close things out.
Inside The Numbers
- In Game 2, both sides finished with eight hits while the Falcons committed four errors compared to none for Merrimack
- Merrimack left four runners on base while Notre Dame stranded seven of their own
- Perry and Zambello faced 16 batters apiece
Up Next
Merrimack concludes play at the Dot Richardson Spring Games with a three-game set tomorrow. The Warriors are scheduled to face regional foe Georgian Court at 1 p.m. before following that up with tilts against California (Pa.) and St. Joseph's (Ind.).
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