Links: Box Score
Video: Megan Cook Interview |
Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Behind a four-run third inning that gave senior starter
Megan Cook a comfortable lead, the Merrimack College softball program completed its divisional sweep of Saint Michael's, 5-3, on Tuesday evening at Martone-Mejail Field. Cook worked all seven innings for her fifth consecutive complete game during the Warriors' current five-game winning streak. The Bellingham, Mass. native totaled 10 punch outs, moving within 11 of becoming the seventh player in school history with 300 career strikeouts.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 5, Saint Michael's 3 | Final
Records: Merrimack (25-8, 12-5 NE10) | Saint Michael's (6-17, 3-10 NE10)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field | North Andover, Mass.
Rapid Recap
- Cook immediately had to get out of a jam in the first inning, as a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Purple Knights. The righty recovered, inducing a comebacker to the circle to end the frame
- The game sat scoreless entering the bottom of the third, but the bats came alive. With two runners in scoring position, junior Nicole Nanof dropped down a bunt that scored classmate Hannah Johnson
- A trio of RBI singles followed to account for the rest of the scoring in the four-run third. Senior Alyssa Williamson, freshman Abigail Amato and junior Kristina Terrazzano all knocked in runs to bring Merrimack's lead to 4-0
- Saint Michael's tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but Nanof laced a double into left field in the bottom half to increase the Warriors' lead 5-2
- Cook kept the Purple Knights off the scoreboard for the next two innings, escaping a first-and-third jam in the fifth and leaving a runner on second in the sixth. The Purple Knights cut the Merrimack advantage to two, 5-3, in the seventh before Cook buckled down, ending the night on her 10th strikeout of the game
Notes and Notables
- WP – Cook (17-2) | LP – Brown (5-9)
- Cook's Line: 7.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
- The hurler's 289 career strikeouts moves her within striking distance of the 300-K milestone. Cook would be just the second Warrior in the last 14 years to reach 300 career strikeouts
- She also increased her career innings pitched to 384.0, moving within 16 of becoming the ninth pitch in school annals with 400 innings pitched
- Nanof knocked in two of Merrimack's five runs, her fifth multi-RBI output of the season
Up Next:
The Warriors travel to Worcester, Mass. on Wednesday to open their season-series with a twinbill against Assumption College. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 3 p.m.
