Williamson's Five-RBI Day Helps Softball Split Final Two Games in Myrtle Beach Sunday
Links: Box Scores - (Game 1) | Game (2)
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Merrimack College softball team split its final two games of the Snowbird Freeze Out Tournament thanks to a 3-for-4, five-RBI game from sophomore Alyssa Williamson (Scarborough, Maine) in their second game of the day on Sunday to conclude their six-game stretch in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to open the season.
The Basics
Score (G1): Lock Haven 5, Merrimack 4
Score (G2: Merrimack 8, Felician 7
Records: Merrimack (2-4) | Lock Haven (3-3) | Felician (3-3)
Location: Grand Park Recreational Complex | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
How It Happened (Game 1)
As the they have done in their first handful of games, the Warriors would get on the board first after an RBI-single from junior Kaleigh Finigan (Medford, Mass.) put the Warriors up 1-0 after one. Lock Haven would retake the lead in the bottom of the second as they picked up three runs on two hits, including a two-run homer.
After a scoreless third and fourth inning, junior captain Haley Currie (Burlington, Mass.), who started the game on the mound, would help her own cause by knocking in a run on her first-career triple in the top of the fifth. Freshman Emily Kurkul (Bridgewater, Mass.) would follow up Currie with a single to drive her home and tie the game at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
Lock Haven would respond immediately in the bottom of the inning, stringing together three-straight hits, with the final being a two-RBI double, to go back on top by a score of 5-3. The sixth inning would see no runs and just one hit from either side as the Warriors trailed by two into the seventh.
Currie would drive in another run on a single in the top of the seventh to cut the deficit to one run, but it would be all the Warriors could manage in the final inning as they fell, 5-4.
How It Happened (Game 2)
The Warriors again got right to it in their final game in Myrtle Beach, as junior captain Samantha Waskowitz (Killingworth, Conn.) led the game off with a walk, followed by a bunt single from junior Mariah Tenney (Winchendon, Mass.) to get the first two Warriors batters of the game on base. Finigan would follow up with another two-RBI single up the middle for an early 2-0 lead for Merrimack, but Felician would answer with three runs of its own in the bottom of the first.
Five hits in the second inning would help the Warriors pick up another three runs to retake the lead, including an RBI single from Waskowitz followed by another two-RBI single from Williamson to end the inning that plated Phipps and Waskowitz, who scored after Williamson was thrown out at second.
The game would follow a back-and-forth pattern as Felician would start with a leadoff home run and pick two runs in the third to tie the game at 5-5, followed by two runs from Merrimack in the fourth on a two-RBI triple from Williamson to make it 7-5, and then another two runs from Felician in the fifth inning to even the score at 7-7 headed to the six.
Williamson would again come through for the Warriors in the top of the sixth, picking up her fifth RBI of the game on a double to left to give the Warriors a late one-run lead. Currie, who pitched the final 2.1 innings allowing just one hit, would get the win after closing it out.
Inside The Numbers
- The first six games of the season saw a hot start from Waskowitz, as she racked up a .412 batting average, 1 HR, 2 2B, 1 3B, and 6 RBI. She leads the team in average and is tied with Williamson for the team-lead in RBI.
- Tenney picked up an impressive five stolen bases across the six games, as she is well on her way to her career-high and NE-10 leading 30 stolen bases from last season.
- Finigan showed some incredible discipline in the opening games of the season, reaching base on balls seven times in 20 plate appearances.
Up Next
The Warriors get a three-week break and then prepare for their NE-10-opener on Sunday, March 13 with a doubleheader at Adelphi starting at noon.
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