Softball Tops Lock Haven; Rallies Past Clarion for Sweep at the Snowbird Freeze Out

Links: Lock Haven Box | Clarion Box

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.  – The Merrimack College softball team continued its early season success with another pair of wins during the Snowbird Freeze Out Tournament. The Warriors defeated Lock Haven, 9-2, in the first game of the day, while making a dramatic comeback against Clarion in the second game, winning 13-5 in five innings.

The Basics
Game 1: Merrimack 9, Lock Haven 2 | Final
Game 2: Merrimack 13, Clarion 5 | Final/ 5 Innings
Records: Merrimack (4-0) | Lock Haven (1-3) | Clarion (0-4)
Location: Grand Park Complex | Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Rapid Recap (Lock Haven)

• Senior Megan Cook was strong in her second outing of the season, retiring the first six batters she faced in the game, and allowing just one baserunner through the first three innings.
• Neither team produced much offensively until the bottom of the third, when Merrimack struck for seven runs. After a leadoff walk to freshman Kelly Dovi, the next two batters reached base via a single and hit batter. Dovi came around to score on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead.
• Cook followed up with a two-RBI double, before junior Nicole Nanof plated two runs with a two-bagger, giving the Warriors a 5-0 lead. Junior Emily Kurkul rounded out the scoring with a two-run blast to left field, scoring Nanof.
• A pair of solo home runs in the top of the fourth was the only runs Lock haven scored in the game. Merrimack got those two runs back in the home half, as senior Alyssa Williamson and freshman Luciellia Colarusso each picked up RBI's.
• Senior Courtney Zambello pitched two scoreless innings in relief to end the game.

Rapid Recap (Clarion)

• Against Clarion, the game ended after the Warriors went up by eight runs in the fifth inning.
• Merrimack again scored a pair of runs in the first inning, thanks to a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by junior Kristina Terrazzano.
• However, the Golden Eagles scored four runs all with two outs in the top of the second innings. After a leadoff double, Alexis Boie reached on an error, before the next batter walked. A grand slam brought all the runs in to give the visiting team a 4-2 lead.
• Merrimack took advantage on a couple of defensive miscues themselves in the bottom of the third. Sophomore Tiffany Mangiameli led off reaching on an error, before scoring two batters later to cut into the lead. With Nanof on third base, junior Caitlin McBride sent a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game.  Lock Haven re-took the lead in the fifth, but that was it.
• An eight-run fifth sent the Warriors to victory. After McBride singled, pinch-runner Hannah Johnson scored on a RBI single by freshman Jennifer Hutnyan, tying the game yet again. From there, the Warriors scored four runs on defensive miscues, before McBride ended the game with a grand slam.

Notes and Notables

• Game 1 WP: Cook (2-0) | Game 1 LP: Kayla Gee (0-2) | SV: Zambello (1)
• Game 2 WP: Bogacz (2-0) | Game 2 LP: Rebecca Kelley (0-1)
• Cook struck out five batters in five innings of work. She also collected four RBI's on the day.
• Bogacz had a pair of strikeouts in two relief innings.
• McBride had five RBI's, all in the second game, along with two hits and a run scored.
• Mangiameli had four hits on the day, along with a RBI.
• Colarusso picked up her first-career RBI.

 
Up Next:
The Warriors return to the diamond tomorrow morning against East Stroudsburg and Concord (W.V.) at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. to wrap up their trip in Myrtle Beach.