Stonehill Stymies Softball Friday in Easton
Links: Box Score (G1) | Box Score (G2)
EASTON, Mass. – The Merrimack College softball team was swept by Stonehill in a Friday afternoon Northeast-10 Conference divisional doubleheader. The Skyhawks shut out the Warriors, 6-0, in Game 1 before completing the sweep with an 8-4 decision in the nightcap.
The Basics
Score (G1): Stonehill 6, Merrimack 0
Score (G2): Stonehill 8, Merrimack 4
Records: Merrimack (10-14, 3-3 NE-10) | Stonehill (8-8, 2-2 NE-10)
Location: Gartland Field | Easton, Mass.
How It Happened
Friday's first game featured a defensive battle, as both pitching staffs limited the opposition to a combined nine hits over the course of the game.
After three scoreless frames, Stonehill finally got to sophomore Haley Currie (Burlington, Mass.) for a pair in the bottom of the fourth, and that was all Skyhawks starter Sarah Ropiak would need. She went the distance and yielded just two hits while striking out six. Stonehill added four more unearned runs by means of a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to account for the final margin of victory.
The late game took a much different approach, as both teams combined for 19 hits (11-8 Stonehill).
The hosts built an early 3-0 lead, but the Warriors used the long ball to their advantage in the top of the third, as a pair of two-run home runs by sophomore Samantha Waskowitz (Killingworth, Conn.) and senior Lindsay Gibbs (Acton, Mass.) pushed the Warriors ahead by one (4-3).
Stonehill, however, would respond with a four-run inning of its own in the bottom half of that same inning, as the Skyhawks grabbed the lead right back and never surrendered it the rest of the way.
Ropiak entered the game in relief in the top of the third and wound up with the win after keeping the Warriors at bay over the final four innings.
Inside The Numbers
- Senior Stephanie Lapierre (Berlin, Conn.) finished the afternoon with four of the team's 10 hits and also snagged a stolen base
- Stonehill finished with 18 hits to Merrimack's 10 and also tallied four doubles and a homer
- Merrimack employed four different pitchers over the course of the doubleheader; freshman Megan Cook (Bellingham, Mass.) tossed over two innings of scoreless relief in Game 2 while striking out two
- Junior Alexis Perry (Westford, Vt.) went 3-2/3 innings in relief during Game 1
Up Next
Merrimack will next host No. 18 Southern New Hampshire at Great Oak Elementary School in Danvers, Massachusetts, tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
Directions to Great Oak Elementary School can be found at this link. For those using GPS devices, please use this address: 76 Pickering St., Danvers, MA, 01923. Parking is available in lots adjacent to the school off of Pickering Street.
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