Softball Splits Doubleheader with Dominican in Florida, Sees Win Streak Snapped at Seven
Links: Box Score (Game 1)
CLERMONT, Fla. – After coming from behind to post a 4-3 win in its first game of the day and extending its win streak to seven games, the Merrimack College softball team fell to Dominican, 7-5, in game two of a doubleheader with the Chargers to split the two games, snapping the Warriors' win streak at seven games at the Spring Games in Clermont, Florida on Sunday evening.
The Basics
Score (G1): Merrimack 4, Dominican 3
Score (G2): Dominican 7, Merrimack 5
Records: Merrimack (8-2) | Dominican (2-1)
Location: National Training Center | Clermont, Florida
How It Happened (Game 1)
Playing in their ninth game of the season and just the second for Dominican, Merrimack would find itself paying from behind early in the first of two games with the Chargers on Sunday. After a 1-2-3 inning for the Warriors in their first at-bat, Dominican would plate a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead after one.
After a quick second and third inning with senior captain Haley Currie (Burlington, Mass.) buckling down on the mound, the Warriors would get a run back to even the score in the fourth. After a leadoff single from junior Alyssa Williamson (Scarborough, Maine) followed by a single from Currie, some tricky base running from the two would eventually draw a throw to second, allowing a pinch runner in for Williamson to score and tie it at 1-1.
Dominican would respond in the bottom of the fourth, with two singles followed by a pair of errors in the field from Merrimack that would score both runners, giving the Chargers a 3-1 lead after four innings.
As they've already done multiple times this season, Merrimack would again battle from behind. In the top of the fifth the first two batters for Merrimack would reach base, followed by a walk that would put sophomore Caitlin McBride (Danvers, Mass.) up to bat with one out and the bases loaded. McBride would deliver with a single up the middle to score two runners and tie the gam. The very next batter in senior Tamarra Crowe (North Bend, Wash.) would also knock a single into the outfield, scoring another run and giving the Warriors their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Currie would deal in the fifth and sixth innings, allowing just one baserunner for Dominican and registering one of her career-high matching eight strikeouts to maintain the one-run lead. The Chargers would threaten in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out double, but Currie would follow up with two straight outs to seal Merrimack's seventh straight victory.
How It Happened (Game 2)
The Warriors would again find themselves playing from behind in game two with Dominican, as the designated away team in the Chargers would put up three runs in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead before Merrimack had stepped to the plate. The captains would answer in the bottom of the inning for the Warriors, though, as an RBI triple from senior Samantha Waskowitz (Killingworth, Conn.) followed by an RBI base-hit from Currie would cut the deficit to 3-2 after one.
The Chargers offense did not let up in the second, putting up another three runs in their second at-bat to extend their lead to 6-2 after two innings following a 1-2-3 inning at the plate for Merrimack.
The Navy and Gold would get two runs back in the bottom of third inning to cut Dominican's lead to 6-4, with Currie and Crowe both knocking in baserunners on sacrifice plays to bring the Warriors within two heading into the fourth.
After a quiet fourth inning for both teams, Dominican would get more offensive production in the top of the fifth with a solo home run putting the Chargers back up by three runs. Merrimack would be held to just one hit in the fifth to remain down three with two at-bats remaining.
The Warriors would cut into the lead again in the sixth inning, thanks to the first-career hit from sophomore Kristina Terrazzano (Pelham, N.H.) that turned out to be a memorable one. The sophomore would rope a two-out triple for the first hit of her young career, then would come all the way around to score after an error from the third baseman allowed her to make it home, bringing Merrimack within two at 7-5. The hit came in just the second-career at-bat for the sophomore, as well.
Still down to in the bottom of the seventh, the Warriors would threaten with two baserunners and no outs. But the Chargers would down the next three Merrimack batters, ending the Warriors win streak at seven games.
Up Next
The Warriors return to action in the Spring Games in Florida on Tuesday wth two games, beginning with a matchup vs. Augustana (S.D.) 6:30 p.m.
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