Softball Takes Game 2, Splits Saturday Doubleheader with #18 Southern N.H.
Links: Box Score (G1) | Box Score (G2)
DANVERS, Mass. – The Merrimack College softball team scored three runs in the bottom of the third and held on from there on out to split a Saturday doubleheader with No. 18 Southern New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon at Great Oak Elementary School.
The Basics
Score (G1): #18 Southern N.H. 7, Merrimack 0
Score (G2): Merrimack 3, #18 Southern N.H. 2
Records: Merrimack (11-15, 4-4 NE-10)| #18 Southern N.H. (15-4, 4-1 NE-10)
Location: Great Oak Elementary School | Danvers, Mass.
How It Happened
After reigning NE-10 Player of the Year Ali Maloof stymied the Warriors with a 12-strikeout, two-hit performance in Game 1 – a 7-0 victory for SNHU – Merrimack came to bat in the bottom of the third of Game 2 trailing by a run.
With sophomores Mariah Tenney (Winchendon, Mass.) and Samantha Waskowitz (Killingworth, Conn.) on base, classmate Kaleigh Finigan (Medford, Mass.) roped a laser down the left field line that dropped fair, allowing both Tenney and Waskowitz to score to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Later in the frame, freshman Breanna Dupuis (Saint Albans, Vt.) – who was pinch-running for Finnigan – moved to third on a groundout and then scored thanks to a throwing error by the SNHU shortstop to up the Merrimack advantage to two (3-1).
Equipped with that lead, junior Alexis Perry (Westford, Vt.) entered the game in the top of the fourth and induced back-to-back groundouts to erase a two-on, one-out situation. SNHU did manage to get one back prior to her entrance, as the game entered the final three innings with both sides separated by a run (3-2).
Perry, however, was brilliant and worked in and out of trouble with runners in scoring position in the top of the fifth before facing four batters in the sixth.
Down to its final at-bat, SNHU put a base runner on after drawing a one-out walk and then a fielder's choice moved her into scoring position. Perry calmly induced a game-ending grounder back to the mound and calmly tossed to first for the final out to clinch the Warriors' first victory over a ranked team this season.
Inside The Numbers
- SNHU outhit Merrimack by a 10-3 margin in Game 2, but the Warriors made the most of their opportunities with those three hits
- Finigan and Waskowitz finished the afternoon with two hits, while senior Stephanie Lapierre (Berlin, Conn.) tallied the only other Warrior hit over the course of both games
- Perry picked up the win in Game 2 after going 3-2/3 innings in relief, striking out two, walking one and working around three hits
- Freshman Courtney Zambello (Sharon, Mass.) started Game 2 and struck out two with one walk over 3-1/3 frames
- Merrimack stranded six base runners over the course of both games while SNHU left 16 on base
Up Next
Merrimack returns to action tomorrow at the Warrior Softball Diamond, where it welcomes Le Moyne for a cross-divisional doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
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