Waskowitz's First-Career Multi-Homer, Five-RBI Game Leads Softball to Twinbill Split on Senior Day
Links: Box Scores (Game 1 | Game 2) | Senior Day Photos | Sammy Waskowitz Postgame
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Highlighted by the first-career multi-home run game from senior captain Samantha Waskowitz (Killingworth, Conn.) in the Warriors' 8-2 victory, the Merrimack College softball team split a Northeast-10 Conference Divisional doubleheader with Southern New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon while Waskowitz, captain Haley Currie (Burlington, Mass.), Tamarra Crowe (North Bend, Wash.), Kaleigh Finigan (Medford, Mass.), Morgan Phipps (Melrose, Mass.) and Mariah Tenney (Winchendon, Mass.) were honored during a Senior Day ceremony in between games.
The Basics
Score (G1): Southern N.H. 3, Merrimack 2
Score (G2): Merrimack 8, Southern N.H. 2
Records: Merrimack (26-12, 13-5 NE10) | Southern N.H. (20-16, 6-10 NE10)
Location: Warrior Softball Diamond| North Andover, Mass.
NE10 Postseason Outlook (N.E. Division)
The top-four programs in the division standings advance to the NE10 Championship, with the second seed receiving a first-round bye and the top seed automatically advancing to the NE10 Semifinals. The top seed in the Northeast Division will host all NE10 Championship games. The Warriors have six divisional games remaining, while Assumption has nine to play and Saint Anselm has seven
1. Merrimack (12-2)
2. Assumption (8-3)
3. Saint Anselm (9-4)
4. Stonehill (6-5)
How It Happened (G1)
- 1st inning – The Penmen would hop out to an early lead in the first game of a twinbill on Saturday afternoon, as a bases-loaded double with just one out in the first inning would give Southern New Hampshire a 2-0 lead. Junior Megan Cook (Bellingham, Mass.), who got the start on the mound in game one, would buckle down after the double and register two straight strikeouts to escape the inning.
- 1st inning – Merrimack would get a run back in the bottom of the frame after a pair of walks put two runners on base. Sophomore Caitlin McBride (Danvers, Mass.) would step to the plate and rip and RBI single up the middle to score the lead runner, cutting the Warriors' deficit to one run after one.
- 2nd inning – The Warriors would tie the game back up at 2-2 in the second inning, set up by a leadoff hit batsman. After back-to-back ground outs advanced the lead runner to third, a ball put in play by freshman Tiffany Mangiameli (Middlefield, Conn.) would force an error in the field, allowing the runner to reach home and even the score.
- 3rd inning – Cook would be face with an early jam again in the third inning, seeing the first two batter of the inning reach base and advance to second and third. But again Cook would buckle down and register three straight outs in the inning to escape unharmed.
- 6th inning – In a game that saw both teams combine for just 10 hits in the duration, including six of those hits coming in the first three innings, the Warriors would see their best chance at a third run come in the sixth inning. A walk and a one-out double from Crowe would put two runners in scoring position, but that would be as far as they would advance.
- 7th inning – Beginning with her three straight outs to escape the third inning, Cook would proceed to retire the next 14 batters in a row for the Penmen as she cruised into the seventh inning. But in the top of the seventh, the first hit Cook would give up in 15 batters would be a solo homer, giving the Penmen a 3-2 lead that the Warriors would not be able to recover from in their last at bat.
How It Happened (G2)
- 1st inning – Waskowitz's big day in game two would get started early as the senior captain would open up the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, giving Merrimack its first lead of the day at 1-0.
- 2nd inning – Merrimack would see its lead quickly extended by a run in the second inning after a batter reached on an error with two down. Mangiameli would step to the plate next and rip a line drive into right center, scoring the base runner on the freshman's first-career triple to give the Warriors an insurance run.
- 5th- inning –After a quiet third and fourth inning on both sides that saw the Warriors begin to threaten, Southern New Hampshire would plate their first run of the game in the fifth inning. Their first run would come on no hits in the inning, as Currie, who started the game for Merrimack, allowed just two hits to the Penmen in 5.1 innings. A hit batsman and an error would set up a sacrifice fly situation to cut Merrimack's lead to 2-1.
- 6th inning – Southern New Hampshire would tie the game in the top of the sixth inning with a solo homer, evening the score at 2-2 before the Warrior offense erupted in the bottom of the inning. Finigan would get in the mix on Senior Day with an RBI double to kick off the sixth-inning slugfest, followed by a successful squeeze bunt from Mangiameli to score Phipps, who had pinch run, for Finigan, putting the Warriors up 4-2. A walk to Tenney would load the bases for Waskowitz, who then stepped in the box and blasted her second homer of the game and second-career grand slam, putting the Warriors up 8-2 and essentially sealing the twinbill split on Senior Day for Merrimack.
Inside The Numbers
- G2: WP – Zambello (8-3) 1.2 IP, 0H, 0R, 2K | SP: Currie – 5.1 IP, 2H, 2R, 3K
- Waskowitz's big day in game two set multiple milestones for the senior captain on Senior Day. It marked her first-career multi-home run game, second grand slam of her career and set a new career-high with five RBI. She ranks 10th in the NE10 this season with a .365 average.
- Crowe also had a quality day at the plate in Merrimack's Senior Day, going 3-for-6 across both games with two doubles and a run. The senior registered the first two-double game of her career in the first contest on Saturday.
Up Next
The Warriors conclude their series with the Penmen tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Warrior Softball Diamond on Alumni Day.
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