Softball Drops Pair at New Haven Tuesday
Links: Box Score (G1) | Box Score (G2)
WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The Merrimack College softball team was swept in a doubleheader at the University of New Haven on Tuesday afternoon. The Warriors failed to hold a late lead in Game 1 before falling in extras, 3-2; and in the nightcap, the Chargers used a five-run fourth to put the game out of reach en route to an 8-1 decision in a game called early by darkness.
The Basics
Score (G1): New Haven 3, Merrimack 2 (F/8)
Score (G2): New Haven 8, Merrimack 1 (F/6)
Records: Merrimack (12-20, 5-9 NE-10) | New Haven (10-11-1, 7-4 NE-10)
Location: UNH Softball Field | West Haven, Conn.
How It Happened
A two-run homer by sophomore Haley Currie (Burlington, Mass.) put the Warriors in front halfway through Game 1, but New Haven sent the game to extras on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh before winning it with a walk-off double in the eighth.
Currie crushed her first career home run in the top of the fourth to plate a pair, giving the Warriors and starting pitcher Alexis Perry (Westford, Vt.) a 2-0 lead midway through the game.
New Haven manufactured a run in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a leadoff walk, a groundout, a stolen base and a single to cut the deficit in half (2-1). Merrimack squandered a chance for insurance when it had the bases loaded and one out but couldn't score in the top of the sixth and left another runner on in the seventh to give the Chargers one last opportunity.
A two-out triple by the No. 9 hitter, Erika Williams, put the tying run 60 feet away for the hosts, and she would score on a wild pitch during the next at-bat to send the game to extras. And after Merrimack went in order in the top of the eighth, a one-out single followed by a double to center gave the Chargers the opener in extras, 3-2.
In the nightcap, Merrimack scored quickly in the top of the first thanks to a passed ball, but that would be it for the Warrior offense, as New Haven scored eight unanswered from there on out before the game was called due to darkness after six innings.
New Haven erased the deficit with two runs in the second thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles; the Chargers added another in the third before blowing the game open with a five-spot in the fourth to take an 8-1 lead.
Merrimack would get runners no further than second base the rest of the way, as New Haven's pitching staff limited the Warrior bats to only five hits in both games.
Inside The Numbers
- Perry struck out eight – tying her career high – in Game 1 while limiting the Chargers to six hits and two walks over 7-1/3 innings
- Freshman Brooke Bogacz (Tyngsboro, Mass.) tossed two scoreless innings in Game 2 after Currie got the start and finished with a strikeout and three hits yielded
- Sophomores Kaleigh Finigan (Medford, Mass.) and Mariah Tenney (Winchendon, Mass.) finished with two hits on the afternoon, with the former adding a double; Currie had the only two RBIs for the Warrior offense
- The Chargers finished with a 15-10 advantage in total hits on the afternoon
Up Next
The Warriors return home to host Bentley in a Northeast Division doubleheader tomorrow (April 15) afternoon, with first pitch in Game 1 set for 3 p.m.
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