Softball Begins Busy Week with DH vs. Assumption

4/13/2015 12:00:00 AM

Links: 2015 Schedule (Live Stats/Video Links Included) | Follow @MerrimackSB

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After finally playing its first two true home games of the season yesterday afternoon, the Merrimack College softball team will enjoy the friendly confines of the Warrior Softball Diamond this week as the team opens up a stretch of seven games in four days on Monday afternoon against Assumption starting at 3 p.m.

The Basics
Date/Time: Monday-Thursday, April 13-16 | 3/5 p.m. (M/T/W) / 3 p.m. (TH)
Records: Merrimack (12-16, 5-5 NE-10) | Assumption (13-10, 5-6 NE-10) | New Haven (8-11-1, 5-4 NE-10) | Bentley (4-9, 1-3 NE-10) | Stonehill (11-8, 5-2 NE-10)
Location: Warrior Softball Diamond (M/W/TH), UNH Softball Field (T) | North Andover, Mass. (M/W/TH) / West Haven, Conn. (T)

Last Time Out:
Playing on its home diamond for the first time this season, Merrimack exploded for a season-high 12 runs in Game 1 en route to a Sunday doubleheader split with Le Moyne. Merrimack took the opener, 12-2, in six innings before falling by a 3-1 tally in the late game.

In Game 1, seniors Lindsay Gibbs and Stephanie Lapierre smashed home runs, including a grand slam for the former, as the Warriors racked up 11 hits on the way to victory. Junior Alexis Perry was  brilliant in Game 1, tossing six innings with six strikeouts and only one earned run allowed on eight hits.

Freshman Megan Cook took the loss in Game 2 despite some strong numbers; she fanned five with no walks and four hits allowed over 4-1/3 innings before giving way to classmate Courtney Zambello.

Click here for the full recap!

The Greyhounds:

• Assumption heads into town sporting a 13-10 overall record and a 5-6 mark in league play
• They split a four-game set over the weekend with Franklin Pierce after dropping a 9-3 decision to Merrimack last Wednesday
• Jess Dipilato ranks third in the league with a .446 average and Ashley Abad has driven in 28 runs (2nd/NE-10)
• Kendal Roy leads the Greyhound pitching staff with a 5-5 record in 12 appearances and has struck out 26 with 14 walks over a span of 61 innings.

The Chargers:

• Are looking to bump a three-game skid after suffering a weekend sweep at Southern Connecticut State
• Junior Jen Palase' 20 hits and .333 batting average lead the Charger offense, while Gabby DeLeo's 10 homers and two home runs are tied for most on the squad
• Juniors Victoria Cabral and Nicole King hav split most of the starting pitching duties; Cabral's 65-1/3 innings lead the side, while King's 60 strikeouts rank fifth in the conference
• New Haven ranks 10^th in the NE-10 in team batting average (.247) while its pitching staff ranks seventh in team ERA (3.13)

The Falcons:

• After dropping two games to Saint Anselm over the weekend, Bentley starts the week 4-9 overall but will play Stonehill and Saint Anselm on Monday before Wednesday's doubleheader
• Freshman Catie Noons' 16 hits are most among Falcon hitters, as is her .390 batting average; senior Shannon Connor has tallied nine RBIs, while Noons' one home run is Bentley's only long ball as of Monday
• Junior Kelly Ferris has totaled 45-1/3 innings on the mound and owns a 3.09 ERA and has shown an impressive display of control with 39 strikeouts to just seven walks
• Bentley's .227 team batting average is second-to-last in the NE-10 while its pitching staff's ERA ranks eighth (3.29)

The Skyhawks:

• After sweeping a doubleheader against Merrimack on Friday, Stonehill went on to take all three games against Saint Michael's over the weekend and have won five straight to start the week
• Are scheduled to play a single game at Bentley on Monday as well as a doubleheader at Saint Anselm on Tuesday before Thursday's single-game matchup in North Andover
• Sarah Ropiak and Michelle Carbone highlight a stellar Stonehill pitching staff; the former leads the NE-10 in ERA (1.26) and ranks third in wins (7), while the latter's 1.97 ERA is fifth-best in the conference
• Offensively, Jacklyn Oleksak paces the Skyhawks with a .366 batting average (15-41), while Cassandra Squeri and Carbone's 20 hits lead the squad; Cayleigh McCarthy's 12 RBIs and three home runs are good for first on the team, as well

Up Next
After an off day Friday, the Warriors will head to Vermont to take on Saint Michael's in a three-game weekend series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon followed by a single game on Sunday.

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