Franklin Pierce Comes Back to Split with Merrimack
After dropping first game, 4-1, Ravens score in seventh and eighth innings for a 2-1 win
Boxscore Game
One
Boxscore Game
Two
Stephanie Howard drove in the
game-winning run in the second game on Wednesday against
Merrimack.
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LEOMINSTER, Mass. (April
16, 2008) – The Franklin Pierce University softball
team earned a hard-fought split with Northeast-10 Conference
opponent Merrimack College in a conference doubleheader at Lassie
League Field on Wednesday afternoon. After Merrimack took the first
game, 4-1, the Ravens came back to force extra innings and
eventually earned a 2-1 eight-inning win in the back end of the
twinbill.
Merrimack 4, Franklin Pierce 1 (Game One)
Merrimack scored one run in each of the final four innings to snap
a seven-game losing streak in the day’s first game, taking a
4-1 decision over the Ravens.
Senior Clarice Pepper (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonskee) earned the
win (2-2) in the circle for the Warriors, ceding one earned run on
only two hits. The senior struck out eight and walked four in seven
innings. Pepper also helped her own cause at the plate, as her RBI
double in the fourth inning opened the scoring and she added a
sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Freshman Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne)
took the loss (3-8) for Franklin Pierce, despite giving up only two
earned runs (four overall) in seven innings of work. Johnson gave
up seven hits, but also set new season highs with six walks and six
strikeouts.
After Pepper’s double put the Warriors up 1-0 in the top of
the fourth inning, the Ravens got it back in the bottom half of the
inning. Sophomore Kristen Tracy (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Walter
Panas) worked a one-out walk before freshman
Kelsey Dumont (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley
Union) pinch ran, stole second and scored on a double to
left by senior captain Kate Surgen (Southampton,
Mass./Hampshire Regional).
Merrimack came right back in the top of the fifth, however, as
senior Kristen Hodder (Pepperell, Mass./North Middlesex Regional)
led off the frame with a home run that put the Warriors back in
front for good. Hodder drove in another run in the sixth inning
with a single, while Pepper’s sacrifice fly in the seventh
ended the scoring.
Courtney Jacobs did not allow an
earned run against Merrimack on Wednesday.
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Franklin Pierce 2,
Merrimack 1 -- 8 Innings (Game Two)
The Franklin Pierce offense continued to falter for much of the
second game, but the team woke up just in time to tie the game in
the bottom of the seventh and push across the winning run in the
bottom of the eighth for a 2-1 win.
Junior Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg,
Mass./Fitchburg) kept the Merrimack offense at bay to help
earn the split, giving up only one unearned run while scattering
six hits in eight complete innings. Jacobs, who won her second
straight decision with the win (2-10), struck out six and walked
three and has not given up an earned run in her last 11
innings.
Sophomore Atlee Cahill (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) pitched very
well for Merrimack, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings before being
relieved by Courtney Garner (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) with
one out in the seventh. Garner (1-3) could not earn the save,
however, allowing the tying run to score in the seventh and the
winning run in the eighth.
The Ravens used some small ball in the eighth inning to escape
with a win and a doubleheader split. Surgen worked a walk to lead
off the frame and was sacrificed to second by Tracy. After Surgen
stole a base to get herself to third, Howard hit a grounder to
third baseman Kara Melillo (North Andover, Mass./North Andover),
who could not get Surgen at the plate.
Garner came on after Cahill got junior Stephanie Howard
(Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) to fly out to begin the seventh
inning but allowed the next four batters to reach base. Junior
Elaine Matthews (Roslindale, Mass./Archbishop
Williams) and Jacobs began the game-tying rally with
back-to-back singles, and Garner suddenly became wild in throwing
eight straight balls to freshman Erin Clark (Fort Ann,
N.Y./Fort Ann) and sophomore pitch-hitter Kiley
Molinari (Meriden, Conn./Maloney) to force in the tying
run.
Merrimack struck first in the fifth inning, as sophomore Emily
Cummings (Andover, Mass./ Andover) reached on an error by Matthews
to begin the inning. She moved to third base on a pair of wild
pitches by Jacobs, and eventually came home on a single to center
by Rachel Lozeau (Nashua, N.H./Bishop Guertin).
Franklin Pierce (5-25, 4-12 NE-10) will look for a pair of
conference wins tomorrow, as the Ravens play their first games of
the year on campus at the Franklin Pierce Softball Field against
Bentley College beginning at 3 p.m. Merrimack (6-16, 6-10 NE-10)
travels to Southern Connecticut State University tomorrow for a
pair of games at 3:30 p.m.