Merrimack Softball Climbing Record Book Ranks
Merrimack Softball Record Book
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- As the Merrimack softball
team continues its run through the NCAA Tournament, it has taken
aim at numerous program records many of which were set during the
1994 National Championship campaign.
The Warriors made their school-record 13th appearance in the
NCAA Tournament this spring, earning an at-large berth to the East
Region 1 as the No. 8 seed.
Merrimack is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since
the 2004 season.
The Warriors participated in the event every year between 1993
and 2002 after making their NCAA Tournament debut in 1991. The
Merrimack softball program owns one of two national championships
at Merrimack, as they claimed the 1994 national title with a 6-2
victory over Humboldt State. The only other program to have won a
national championship was the 1978 Merrimack hockey team.
The Merrimack softball team has also won the most NCAA
Tournament contests among all 20 programs at Merrimack College with
37 victories.
Sophomore Kelli Jo Deardorff (Bedford, Mass.),
the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year, has her
sights on many of the single-season pitching marks. This season,
she has collected 23 victories in the pitcher's circle,
ranking her third on the all-time single-season list behind
Jennifer Connolly who grabbed 30 wins in 1999 and 26 during the
2000 campaign.
Deardorff is nearing Kim Page on the single-season strikeout
list. Page set the program record in 1992 with 154 strikeouts and
tied her mark in 1994. This spring, Deardorff has fanned 151
batters pulling her even with Connolly for third on the annals.
Deardorff's 215.2 innings pitched this season are good for
fourth in the record books for a single-season amount. Connolly set
the all-time standard with 242.1 in 2000, eclipsing the previous
mark established in 1989 by Susan Foulds by 10 innings.
In the offensive categories, Monique Gosselin (Lawrence,
Mass.) is taking aim at the home run records. This season
she has blasted 16 homers which rank second on the single-season
list. Stacey Dell'Anno recorded 18 round-trippers in 1999 to
own the top spot. Last season, Gosselin jumped into the record
books with nine four-baggers, good for seventh at the time.
In three seasons, Gosselin has accrued 28 homers which matches
Judy O'Connell for third-most in a career. Dell'Anno is
the all-time career home run leader with 45 during her four years
with the Warriors. Raffaella Paparo ranks second in program history
with 32 homers in her time at Merrimack.
The 2011 squad boasts a 31-21 record heading into the NCAA
Tournament East Super Regional, the best mark under head coach
Elaine Schwager. The team's 31 wins is the
most since the 2004 season when the Warriors owned a 35-18 record.
The 2011 campaign marks the 15th time in program history that
Merrimack has captured 30 or more victories. The Warriors have
posted five seasons with 40 or more wins, the most recent coming in
2001 with a 40-8 mark.
The Warriors sported a 20-10 record in the Northeast-10
Conference. Merrimack finished the regular season in a three-way
tie for second place in the league and received the No. 3 seed in
the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament. Merrimack defeated Adelphi
4-1 in the first round and Southern Connecticut 6-4 in round two.
After exploding for five runs in the first frame, the Warriors
topped New Haven 8-0 in five innings to advance to the finals of
the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament.
Merrimack took on the Owls in the Northeast-10 Tournament
championship series. Southern Connecticut claimed game one 5-3 to
force a decisive game two and prevailed with a 9-2 victory in game
two to capture the title and the Northeast-10 Conference's
automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In the NCAA Tournament East Region 1, Merrimack defeated Dowling
2-1 in the first round. The Warriors earned a spot in the final
series with a 1-0 win over Southern Connecticut. A walk-off grand
slam by the Owls in game one of the final series forced a decisive
game two. Merrimack claimed a 2-1 victory to advance to the NCAA
Tournament East Super Regionals.
Tawny Palmieri (Peabody, Mass.) led the
Warriors with a .538 batting average on the weekend while owing a
1.250 slugging percentage. Palmieri drove in six runs while scoring
four times and also blasted a pair of home runs.
Deardorff picked up three victories in the pitcher's
circle for Merrimack in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Deardorff worked 27 innings and struck out 12 batters while
sporting a 2.07 ERA.
The Warriors will square off against C.W. Post May 20-21 in a
best-of-three series for the chance to represent the East Region in
the 2011 NCAA Softball Championship May 26-30 in Salem,
Va.
